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1) New Jersey Leads in NEA PAC Fundraising. The
New Jersey Education Association is NEA's second-largest state affiliate,
but it is far and away the leading contributor to the national union's
political action committee, according to figures obtained by the Education
Intelligence Agency.
As of last month, NJEA members, officers and activists
in 2007 contributed almost $139,000 to the $1.7 million war chest of the NEA
Fund for Children and Public Education. As is the case with every NEA
affiliate, most of that money was collected during the NEA Representative
Assembly in Philadelphia last July.
Although NEA boasts 3.2 million members, it is the
8,800 delegates to the union's national convention who are responsible for
more than three-quarters of the PAC contributions. Regional leadership
conferences also have a campaign contribution component, which accounted for
an additional $82,000 from those who attended the events.
The top 10 PAC contributing state affiliates are:
1) New Jersey Education Association - $138,982
2) Illinois Education Association - $86,848
3) Michigan Education Association - $76,671
4) Ohio Education Association - $75,370
5) Tennessee Education Association - $67,843
6) Wisconsin Education Association Council - $67,038
7) Connecticut Education Association - $66,866
8) Pennsylvania State Education Association - $63,092
9) Indiana State Teachers Association - $59,807
10) Florida Education Association - $55,320
NEA's largest affiliate, the California Teachers
Association, ranks only 15th with $42,233.
2) NEA Sends Big Bucks to Missouri. The
National Education Association will send up to $335,000 to its Missouri
affiliate to support its efforts to institute collective bargaining for
public school teachers.
The environment changed last May when the Missouri
Supreme Court ruled public employees already had the right to bargain
collectively. Since the decision, Missouri NEA has been seeking to establish
exclusive representation in local jurisdictions where its membership is
strongest.
Missouri NEA is smaller than the non-union Missouri
State Teachers Association, and the grant from NEA's national ballot
initiative and legislative crisis fund will up the ante in the competition
between the two organizations for supremacy in the state.
3) Washington Teachers Union Trades Silver for
Green. The Washington Post's Reliable Source reports the auction
for former Washington Teachers Union President Barbara Bullock's ill-gotten
gains
raised $106,710 for the union. The big seller was the 288-piece Tiffany
silver flatware service, which fetched $32,500.
4) Last Week's Intercepts. EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from November 19-26:
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Fall Into the Gap. Bad schools are bad for everyone.
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Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation. "No human counsel hath devised, nor
hath any mortal hand worked out these great things."
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How to Bury the Lede. Identify the problem.
5) Quote of the Week: Union Democracy Edition.
"Larry runs the union like a dictator. He doesn't want his members to know
the truth about how dues are spent." – David E. Bradley, newly elected
member of the executive board of the Fresno Teachers Association, discussing
FTA President Larry Moore. FTA reports 855 ballots were cast by an
electorate of about 4,000 members. (November 16
Fresno Bee)
"It's a
very hurtful thing for me to be told I'm not a member in good standing after
paying my union dues all those years." – Belinda Boyd, New York City school
aide who nominated Anthony Ferina for local chairman. Ferina was
disqualified because the parent union claimed Ms. Boyd was not a member,
despite her membership card, union voting record and seven years of dues
payments. Out of 14,000 eligible members, only 27 voted in the election.
(November 22
New York Times) |
