NEA hides illegal activity behind bogus claims

The National Education Association has announced that it will on Wednesday, Oct. 1, issue a 100-plus page report entitled "The Real Story Behind Paycheck Protection—The Hidden Link Between Anti-Public Education Initiatives and the Far Right." What the NEA report fails to address, interestingly, is the coercion that propelled paycheck protection to the political frontlines of many states in recent years.

"The NEA wants to marginalize the voice of those who want academic and political freedom," said Lynn Harsh, executive director of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "The NEA union bosses like the power they’ve accrued over the years, and the fewer questions asked about their roughshod treatment of teachers, the better."

EFF is one of many independent groups working throughout the nation on projects relating to paycheck protection. Under paycheck protection laws, union bosses are required to obtain each member’s written permission before taking a payroll deduction for political purposes.

"NEA and its affiliates are among the largest of political contributors throughout the nation. The NEA leadership has fought paycheck protection measures in order to maintain access to member dues and, therefore, deep-pocketed political clout," Harsh said. "The NEA is afraid to give teachers political choices."

Ironically, the report also asserts that "hidden money is dangerous money in politics," a quote attributed to Larry J. Sabato, director of governmental studies at the University of Virginia.

In 1996, the WEA and NEA secretly contributed more than 90 percent of the money used to defeat two Washington state education-related initiatives, one which would have allowed school vouchers and another initiative which would have allowed charter schools. Those NEA/WEA contributions—totaling nearly $1 million—were raised through illegal deductions taken from teachers’ paychecks.

"The bully boys at the NEA and the WEA didn’t have their members’ permission to use payroll deductions for their political campaigning," Harsh said. "Two highly paid NEA employees involved in fighting Initiatives 173 and 177 were found guilty by the Public Disclosure Commission of providing false information about who employed them on more than 100 reports they submitted to the PDC."

"In contrast, foundations such as EFF survive entirely on private donations given freely by people who believe in the ideas promoted by that organization," Harsh said. "The NEA and the Washington Education Association’s lifeblood is being able to take members’ dues and use them for politics without first having to ask permission. It’s wrong, and they should abide by their own words and stop forcing teachers to contribute to politics and fully disclose their own involvement"

Today, more than 85 percent of WEA members choose not to contribute to the WEA political action committee.

"What the NEA and WEA are afraid of is losing power. They’re afraid their members will figure out they don’t need a teachers’ union to achieve professional success or to increase student learning," Harsh said. "What we want is for teachers to be paid what they’re worth and for students to succeed academically. What the NEA and WEA want is to retain their membership and political clout regardless. It’s that simple."

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org