Little Eddie has been so busy, his head is spinning. But I didn’t want to leave everyone hanging. If you are a teacher or know a teacher, you might encourage them to check out this new report from Mike Antonucci at the Education Intelligence Agency: [National Education Association] Gave $15 Million to Advocacy Groups in the 2011-12 fiscal year.
The report includes a list of all the reported beneficiaries, everyone from the AFL-CIO and America Votes to We Are Ohio. Of course, that money overwhelmingly comes from member dues.
In the interests of transparency and full disclosure, this is a great service Antonucci provides each year. As much as national union officials may wax sentimental about declining power, it’s important to note the $15 million represents more than a 10 percent increase in this category of spending from two years ago (though the list of advocacy organizations receiving money was longer then).
It’s important to remember one last thing when considering how NEA spends dues funds: Teachers in Colorado have membership options.
If you want to look up the numbers for yourself on the official government report, here are some concise instructions to dig around with.