Union Profile

The NEA largely escapes public perception as a union. The NEA's Oregon affiliate stated in an old publication that "The major purpose of our association is not the education of children, rather it is, or ought to be the extension and/or preservation of our members' rights."

Like almost all unions, the NEA vigorously fights competition. They challenge any hint of education reform that would increase teacher accountability or allow for voucher programs or charter schools. In 1993, Forbes reported:

And last year the NEA-affiliated California Teachers Association used unprecedented tactics to disrupt the effort to place a school initiative on the ballot - including blocking would-be signators' access to the petition in shopping malls, allegedly sabotaging the petition with fake names and offering a signature-collecting firm $400,000 to decline the account.

And the NEA isn't afraid to align itself with shady organizations to achieve its goal of killing reform. It gave a large grant to a group called ACORN, which has been tied to voter fraud in a dozen states, government-grant fraud, and even union busting. The purpose of the money was simply listed as "NCLB" - No Child Left Behind, the legislative bane of the union's existence.

That the NEA would give money to ACORN -- and nearly $250,000 of its members' money to a 2004 political campaign in Florida run by ACORN and beset by allegations of voter fraud -- makes sense in light of the groups' shared radical philosophy. Both organizations were profoundly influenced by "Rules For Radicals" author and self-avowed Marxist Saul Alinsky, whose teachings advocated that education union organizers not let teachers "fraternize with the enemy" because "distance helps you polarize the issue." The "singleness of purpose" a union organizer must have, wrote Alinsky, is "the ability to build a power base."

Author Peter Brimelow has gone so far as to allege: "The entire raison d'etre of the National Education Association is political. It's engaged in what economists call rent-seeking -- using political and institutional power to extract money from society." The NEA reported spending $25 million on political activities in its fiscal year 2005. But financial disclosures don't show the full extent of the power of the union, which also boasts an army of paid political operatives that is bigger than the Republican and Democratic parties.

There is no doubt where the union's political allegiances lie, even if it doesn't match with the values of its members. Between 1990 and 2004, 94 percent of donations made by National Education Association political action committees and individual officers went to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But according to the NEA, only 45 percent of public school teachers are Democrats.

In 2004, the union spent $65.5 million -- nearly 20 percent of its entire budget -- on "contributions, gifts and grants" that largely funded left-wing and non-education-related causes, including drives to raise the minimum wage and campaigns to kill Social Security reform. As a Wall Street Journal editorial noted, its financial disclosure forms "expose the union as a honey pot for left-wing political causes that have nothing to do with teachers, much less students." Recipients of teachers' forced dues supporting left-leaning groups including:

• Human Rights Campaign ($15,000)
• National Women's Law Center ($5,000)
• Rainbow/PUSH Coalition ($5,000)
• Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network ($5,000)
• Democratic Leadership Council ($25,000)
• Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ($40,000)
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute ($35,000)
• Economic Policy Institute ($45,000)
• Ballot Initiative Strategy Center ($75,000)
• People for the American Way ($51,000)
• Fund to Protect Social Security ($400,000)
• Rock the Vote Education Fund ($10,000)
• Floridians For All ($249,000)
• Alliance for Nevada's Working Families ($250,000)

Membership Total Membership:   2,767,696		Financial Information Total Assets:   $ 186,244,257 Total Receipts:   $ 343,189,202
Source: Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards LM filings

 Search Financial
 Disbursement Records

 

 

  search this union search all 

Representational Activities ( 14.8%)	$ 50,433,648
Political Activities & Lobbying ( 7.9%)	$ 26,934,620
Contributions, Gifts & Grants ( 21.7%)	$ 73,873,608
General Overhead ( 18.3%)	$ 62,358,768
Union Administration ( 19.0%)	$ 64,445,097
Strike Benefits ( 0.0%)	$ 51,689
Total Compensation ( 13.5%)	$ 46,055,067
Per Capita Tax ( 0.7%)	$ 2,323,439

Local	Members
NEA State Association (Harrisburg, PA)	181,755
NEA State Association 0 (East Lansing, MI)	156,988
NEA State Association (Columbus, OH)	128,530
NEA State Association (Tallahassee, FL)	125,481
NEA State Association (Springfield, IL)	120,823
NEA Association (Albany, NY)	39,327
NEA State Association (Augusta, ME)	25,267
NEA State Association (Cranston, RI)	11,055
NEA State Association (Washington, DC)	6,438
NEA Local (Tallahassee, FL)	3,990
[show all locals & affiliates]