NEA Calls Teachers’ Rights "A Royal Pain in the A—"

The National Education Association is having trouble enforcing its political plan in Washington state because teachers’ paychecks are protected here.

According to Robert Chanin, NEA’s General Counsel, the court ruling in Evergreen Freedom Foundation v. Washington Education Association requires that school districts get permission from Washington teachers before collecting dues that will be spent for political purposes. In Chanin’s words this is "a royal pain in the ass!"

Almost all of the new $12.5 million annual special dues assessment passed at this year’s NEA convention was earmarked for state ballot initiatives and national and state media campaigns. (The $5 per member yearly assessment will total $62.5 million over its five-year duration.)

The NEA’s plans for spending this new money make next week’s Democratic National Convention a timely event because thousands of delegates from around the nation will be attending, including 235 NEA members. This is equivalent to being the third largest state represented at the conference. Only California and New York are sending more delegates than the NEA.

At its own convention in July, the NEA revealed pieces of its ambitious political plan:

NEA’s stated goal is to change the House majority to Democrats. The union has allocated $3.5 million to reach this goal. It will dispatch staff to 25 targeted congressional campaigns between August 28 and November 7. In each of these districts the NEA intends to have a full-time organizer, five pieces of direct mail, and make calls to all of its members prior to the election.

The NEA is specifically targeting Washington Republican Dan McDonald’s 1st District Congressional race. The opposition plan anticipates five direct mail pieces going out between August 14 and October 31, and a phone bank to reach teachers between August 21 and September 11.

At least two NEA staff members will be sent to work on Al Gore’s presidential campaign.

The union’s internal polls show that among its members there is strong support for presidential candidate George W. Bush, something NEA officials would like to change. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) has obtained documents showing that union leaders intend to use member dues to convince 800,000 (one third) of their members to "move" to the Gore camp.

"It’s ironic that NEA leaders are planning to spend millions of dollars of their members’ own money to convince them they’re wrong in their political opinions," says Bob Williams, EFF’s president. "These are highly-informed, professional teachers we’re talking about. The NEA’s ‘new unionism’ is nothing more than boss politics—trying to force the members to support the union boss’ agenda."

The NEA has a specific agenda for Washington state, and plans to use a part of the new assessment dues to oppose and support initiatives. However, because of EFF’s litigation, union officials cannot spend that money here unless they get annual authorization from teachers.

NEA officials are looking for ways to get around this obstacle. They admit Washington teachers will be paying for the new assessment, and say they will still fund ballot initiatives here. But they claim that Washington teachers won’t be paying for the political activity.

Chanin also says the NEA will seek a written authorization and agreement to clarify this issue from Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

"This organization is a behemoth in state politics," says Williams. "It is understandable for the NEA to want to influence education policy, but they’ve crossed the line between providing valuable information so their members can make sound political decisions and coercing them to follow the leadership’s agenda. The fact that they use their members’ own money for these tactics shows an alarming lack of respect."

1. NEA Convention 2000 Report and Commentary, July 2000. Education Policy Institute, www.educationpolicy.org
2. Ibid.
3. Dennis Friel at the NEA-Retired annual meeting. "The Stamp of Merit: Inside the 2000 National Education Association Representative Assembly." Mike Antonucci, Education Intelligence Agency, July 2000.
4. NEA Convention 2000 Report and Commentary, July 2000. Education Policy Institute, www.educationpolicy.org

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