Union Political Spending
Q. People
say that the teachers' unions have destroyed teaching as a profession because
they have made it so political. It's true, you never hear about doctors,
lawyers, engineers and other professionals throwing their weight around on so
many political hot potatoes. But is this fair to say about the teachers'
unions?
It sure looks to be. Consider these excerpts
from a well-documented report on non-education spending by the 2.7-million
member National Education Association for the 2004-05 school year.
Take a look at how the NEA puts its money into
contributions, grants and political expenditures.
This compilation is by Mike Antonucci, the
celebrated education reporter who writes the Education Intelligence Agency
website, www.eiaonline.com Antonucci is
the "I" in the items listed below:
The
U.S. Department of Labor now requires unions to itemize expenditures in the
following categories:
*
Representational activities - NEA spent $47 million.
*
Political activities and lobbying - NEA spent $25 million.
*
Contributions, gifts and grants - NEA spent $65.5 million.
*
General overhead - NEA spent $64 million.
*
Union administration - NEA spent $56.8 million.
.
. .
Below
I have listed a sampling of NEA expenditures in each category, along with
information about, or a web link to, the recipients.
Representational
activities
JBL Associates,
Bethesda MD: $129,269
Bredhoff
& Kaiser, the law firm of NEA General Counsel Robert Chanin, received funds
in a number of different categories, totaling $1,143,316
Consortium for
Educational Change, Lombard IL: $40,000
B-Line
Express of Columbia MD ($10,000 for software) and the Source Group of Richmond
VA ($21,291 for consulting) received funds for "opposition and
anti-privatization" projects.
National
Coalition on Health Care: $25,000
Generations United:
$10,000
NB
Yacht Charters: $11,797
Political activities and
lobbying
First,
I list the money that went to NEA state affiliates last year for various ballot
and legislative initiatives, as well as other grants with a political aim.
Remember, these are all expenditures from NEA's national budget from September
2004-August 2005, and do not include whatever expenditures were made by the
state affiliate itself, or by NEA after August 2005.
Alabama
Education Association: $150,806
Arizona
Education Association: $273,015
Arkansas
Education Association: $24,750
California
Teachers Association: $2,562,778
Colorado
Education Association: $233,477
Connecticut
Education Association: $76,500
Delaware
State Education Association: $27,000
Education
Minnesota: $27,201
Florida
Education Association: $206,125
Georgia
Association of Educators: $295,273
Hawaii
State Teachers Association: $13,203
Idaho
Education Association: $192,930
Indiana
State Teachers Association: $25,000
Iowa
State Education Association: $57,950
Kentucky
Education Association: $250,690
Louisiana
Association of Educators: $165,719
Maryland
State Teachers Association: $47,900
Massachusetts
Teachers Association: $255,000
MEA-MFT:
$151,564
Michigan
Education Association: $660,287
Mississippi
Association of Educators: $21,260
Missouri
NEA: $38,434
NEA
New Hampshire: $21,684
NEA
New Mexico: $24,544
NEA
New York: $51,400
Nebraska
State Education Association: $178,086
Nevada
State Education Association: $29,837
New
Jersey Education Association: $791,715
North
Carolina Association of Educators: $130,000
North
Dakota Education Association: $107,000
Ohio
Education Association: $877,962
Oklahoma
Education Association: $65,600
Oregon
Education Association: $47,230
Pennsylvania
State Education Association: $50,000
NEA
Rhode Island: $173,000
South
Carolina Education Association: $125,600
South
Dakota Education Association: $176,000
Tennessee
Education Association: $30,794
Texas
State Teachers Association: $250,915
Washington
Education Association: $12,324
West
Virginia Education Association: $164,594
Wisconsin
Education Association Council: $180,439
The
sum of the above is almost $9.25 million. However, NEA also gave money in this
category directly to various groups or campaigns, rather than through state
affiliates.
Education
Commission of the States: $10,000
National
Association of Legislative Political Specialists: $12,459. I had never heard of
this group, even though it is located nearby. Their office, however, happens to
be in the same room as the California Teachers Association Region II office.
National
Conference of Black Mayors: $5,000
NCSL
Foundation for State Legislatures: $8,200
Greenberg
Quinlan Research: $302,670. A big outlay for polling services.
Malchow,
Schlackman, Hoppey & Cooper: $542,398
Ballot
Initiative Strategy Center: $75,000
League
of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC): $45,000
Terris & Barnes: $368,038
Wisconsin
Citizen Action Fund for Nonpartisan GOTV Projects: $20,000
Winning Directions: $413,291
Protect
Our Public Schools: $500,000. The anti-charter school campaign in Washington
state.
North
Carolina Democratic Party Building Fund: $25,000
Floridians
Against Inequities in Rates: $25,000
The
Fund to Protect Social Security: $400,000
Trust
Lands for Education Committee (Arizona): $200,000
Rock
the Vote Education Fund: $10,000
Missouri
Progressive Vote Coalition: $14,000
Citizens
United to Protect Public Safety (Maine): $300,000
Kids
Count Coalition (Oklahoma): $100,000
Floridians
for All Committee: $249,000
Alliance
for Nevada's Working Families: $250,000
Communities for Quality
Education received $600,000 from NEA out of this category, but a quick peek
at the "union administration" expenditures shows CQE received an
additional $1.9 million from NEA for "public relations costs." Again,
this is in addition to whatever funds CQE raised from individual NEA state
affiliates.
Contributions, gifts and
grants
What
hasn't been clear from previous disclosure reports is that NEA is active in the
world of philanthropy. While the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of
Education has been issuing education grants for many years, the union
itself also doles out contributions to nonprofits and advocacy groups that may
or may not have a direct education mission. Listed here are those grants, plus
payments to groups holding special events, and other outlays.
Valis
Associates: $200,000. This lobbying firm was hired by NEA for the particular
purpose of outreach to the Republican Party.
AFSCME:
$5,000
Amnesty
International: $5,000
Aspira Association:
$5,000
Center for Women Policy Studies:
$5,000
Congressional
Black Caucus Foundation: $39,940
Congressional
Hispanic Caucus Institute: $35,000
Economic
Policy Institute: $45,000
Joint
Center for Political and Economic Studies: $10,000
MALDEF:
$5,000
National
Association for Bilingual Education: $5,000
National
Council of La Raza: $7,900
National Women's Law
Center: $5,000
National
Alliance of Black School Educators: $30,000
Gay
and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards: $5,000
Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights: $13,000
Center
for Law and Education: $45,000
AIDS
Walk Washington: $5,000
Human Rights Campaign:
$15,000
HEROS, Inc.:
$20,000
Everybody
Wins! DC: $7,903
Rainbow
PUSH Coalition: $5,000
United South and Eastern
Tribes: $5,000
Gay,
Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN): $5,000
Rebuild
America's Schools: $20,000
The Ripon Society:
$10,000
Learning
First Alliance: $51,350
Food Research and
Action Center: $5,000
LULAC:
$5,000
The
King Center: $10,000
Frederick
D. Patterson Research Institute: $20,000
Gephardt
Legacy Fund: $10,000
Central
Intercollegiate Athletic Association: $30,000
Democratic
Leadership Council: $25,750
Wellstone
Memorial Fund: $5,000
General overhead
This
category mostly contains the union's phone bills, UPS charges, etc. However,
there are a few interesting entries:
Initial
Tropical Plants, Inc.: $42,472
Joe Ragan's Coffee, Ltd.:
$25,962
Morris
Costumes: $5,421. A second payment of $54,225 appears in the "union
administration" category.
Union administration
The
expenditures from this category are not easily distinguished from the previous
category, however, one assumes they are more directly related to union
operations.
American
Labor Education Center: $25,000
Children's
Defense Fund: $10,648
Committee
for Education Funding: $8,157
Home and School Institute:
$36,942
NCATE:
$311,722
People
for the American Way: $51,200
Public
Agenda Foundation: $7,132
NCSL
Foundation for State Legislatures: $13,000
Consortium
for Educational Change: $5,682
US
Hispanic Leadership Institute: $10,000
National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards: $6,363
NTL Institute:
$170,188
Partnership
for 21st Century Skills: $35,000
Great
Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: $200,000. This is the
nonprofit formed by the NEA state affiliates in the north central part of the
U.S.
Harvard
University: $25,000. Listed as pertaining to "research services and
statistics," it is unclear whether this is a grant to The Civil
Rights Project or for something else. NEA is, nevertheless, a contributor
to the CRP.
Center
for Teaching Quality: $122,696
U.S. Action:
$6,000
Council
on Foreign Relations: $6,000
Also
in this category are payments to Media Strategies and Research of
$2,966,123, The Mellman Group of $106,400, and Brazile and Associates
of $40,148.
Homework: Check the full report on www.eiaonline.com/archives/20051219.htm
and regularly scan the author's well-reported news blog.