National Education Association
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| Founded | 1850 |
|---|---|
| Members | 3.2 million (2006) [1] |
| Country | United States |
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Key people | Reg Weaver, president |
| Office location | Washington, D.C. |
| Website | www.nea.org/ |
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States, representing many of the country's teachers along with other school personnel. The NEA has 3.2 million members and is headquartered in Washington DC. It employs over 600 staff and has an annual operating budget of around $150 million. Reg Weaver, a graduate of Roosevelt University, is the NEA's current president. Traditionally a professional organization, it is not a member of the AFL-CIO unlike its smaller rival the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
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[edit] History
The NEA was founded by Robert Campbell as the National Teachers Association in 1857, and changed to its present name in 1870. It was chartered by Congress in 1906. In the 1960s it officially became a union. Before the 1960s, only a small portion of public school teachers were unionized.[2]
In 1998, a proposed merger with AFT failed when that union's annual meeting rejected it[3]. The two organizations continue to cooperate, however, through the "NEAFT Partnership." Also, several state NEA locals have merged with their AFT counterparts, effectively forming a single union in those states. Unified NEA-AFT locals include the teachers' unions in Florida, Minnesota, Montana, and New York.
In 2006, the NEA and the AFL-CIO also announced that, for the first time, stand-alone NEA locals as well as those that had merged with the AFT would be allowed to join state and local labor federations affiliated with the AFL-CIO.[4]
[edit] Politics
In recent decades the NEA has greatly increased its visibility in party politics, endorsing mostly Democratic Party candidates and contributing funds and other assistance to political campaigns. The NEA asserts itself "non-partisan", but critics point out that the NEA has endorsed and provided support for every Democratic Party presidential nominee from Jimmy Carter to John Kerry and has never endorsed any Republican or third party candidate for the nation's highest office. [5][6]
Furthermore, based on required filings with the federal government, it is estimated that between 1990 and 2002 ninety-five percent of the NEA's substantial political contributions went to Democratic Party candidates[7]. Although this has been questioned as being out of balance with the more diverse political views of the broader membership[8], the NEA maintains that it bases support for candidates primarily on the organization's interpretation of candidates' support for public education and educators.
Others benefitting from NEA funding, according to the most recent filings, include Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International and AIDS Walk Washington.[9].
Some have criticized the NEA for its opposition to education reforms of Republican administrations, including the bipartisan No Child Left Behind law and pay-for-performance plans such as merit pay. Also criticized by some is what they perceive as the NEA's promotion of the gay rights agenda, especially since the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 2005 case Fields v. Palmdale School District. The court in that case ruled that parents' fundamental right to control the upbringing of their children "does not extend beyond the threshold of the school door," and that a public school has the right to provide its students with "whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise."
The organization tracks legislation related to education and the teaching profession and encourages members to get involved in politics through a comprehensive Legislative Action Center on its website. Because of the NEA's large membership and mandatory union dues, the NEA is extremely well funded and exercises substantial power in the political process.
[edit] Funding
Most NEA funding comes from mandatory union dues ($295 million from mandatory dues out of a total of $341 million in 2005).[10] Typically, local chapters negotiate a contract with automatic deduction of dues from members' paychecks. Part of the dues remain with the local chapter (the district association), the largest part will go to the state association, and part will move on to the national association. Although dues moves through the state and national associations, a large portion typically comes back to the local chapters through grants.
[edit] Criticism
Substantial criticism has been leveled against the NEA and other teachers unions for putting the interests of teachers ahead of students and for consistently opposing reforms that would help students but harm union interests.[11] The NEA has supported class size reductions and across-the-board salary increases for teachers: two measures that increase the number and compensation of NEA teachers. On the other hand, the NEA has opposed measures such as merit pay, school vouchers, reforms to teacher tenure, curriculum reform, the No Child Left Behind Act, and many accountability reforms. Critics note that in general, the NEA opposes any measure which distinguishes between poor and good teachers, makes bad teachers easier to fire, or increases competition. In a 1999 interview, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan said that "ever since the judges have gotten heavily into education, and the National Education Association has gotten into control of that Department of Education, test scores go down, there’s violence in classroom, things are going wrong".[1] Also criticized is the NEA's alleged "goal of changing public opinion on homosexuality, starting with the youngest generation,"[12] according to a former chairman of the NEA Ex-Gay Educators Caucus. [13].[14] [15]
Cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court [16] also challenge the use of union dues to promote political agendas without the expressed consent of teachers forced into union membership by local work rules.
