Freedom Foundation Criticizes Montana Teachers Union’s Financial Ties to “Radical” Organizations

In a newly published opinion in the Montana Sentinel, Maxford Nelsen, Director of Research and Government Affairs at the Freedom Foundation, accused Montana’s largest teachers union of financially supporting what he described as “racist” or extremist organizations and ideologies.

Nelsen’s piece centers on recent disclosures from the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), which reported giving $7,000 to Cornel Pewewardy, an activist author whose work promotes “decolonizing” education, and $5,000 to the Montana Human Rights Network, now doing business as Catalyst Montana.

Decolonizing Education or Ideological Indoctrination?

Pewewardy, a professor of Indigenous Studies, authored Unsettling Settler-Colonial Education, a book advocating for the dismantling of traditional U.S. education systems, which he claims are rooted in white supremacy. Nelsen argues this model pushes neo-Marxist ideology into the classroom, replacing values like individualism with collectivist priorities such as “reciprocity” and “community.”

Nelsen questions why taxpayer-funded union dues are being funneled into “radical racialist causes,” particularly amid debates over classroom content. He writes, “If the MFPE is willing to align itself with racially divisive or radical organizations, that’s something parents and policymakers deserve to know.”

Catalyst Montana’s Funding and Influence

Western Montana News previously reported that Catalyst Montana, formerly the Montana Human Rights Network, receives over 70% of its funding from federal grants—more than $735,000 in taxpayer money. The group also accepted donations from national progressive organizations such as the Tides Foundation and the Transgender Law Center.

Catalyst’s self-described mission includes combating “white nationalism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and nativism,” and it maintains a “hate incident” reporting tool. However, Nelsen and other critics argue the group uses that mandate to smear mainstream conservative and religious groups. He specifically criticized the group’s reliance on the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR), which has labeled organizations like Moms for Liberty and certain church-affiliated schools as “white nationalist.”

Calls for greater transparency from Trump administration official Jeremy Carl urged Governor Greg Gianforte to investigate Catalyst Montana’s financial practices.

Turning Classrooms Into Battlegrounds

This latest criticism also renews attention to Montana’s ideological divide in education. In 2021, following a legal opinion by Attorney General Austin Knudsen warning against race-based instruction, eleven Montana educators—including three from Missoula—signed a national pledge to “Teach the Truth,” defying the AG’s guidance.

That pledge, organized by the Zinn Education Project, declared that educators would continue teaching that “racism is a defining characteristic of U.S. society,” even if state law discouraged such lessons. MFPE President Amanda Curtis publicly criticized Knudsen’s opinion as “political grandstanding” and warned it could suppress open discussion in classrooms.

A Broader Pattern?

Taken together, the MFPE’s financial support of ideologically aligned authors and nonprofits, its leadership’s criticism of state legal guidance on race instruction, and the extensive public funding of Catalyst Montana raise questions among critics about the role of politics in Montana’s classrooms.

Nelsen’s article ends by urging policymakers to reevaluate taxpayer subsidies to organizations engaged in political or ideological activism, saying Montana parents deserve a “clear-eyed” look at where public education dollars are going—and what ideas are entering the classroom under the banner of equity.