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1) EIA Exclusive: AFT Gave $2.6 Million to Advocacy
Groups. An Education Intelligence Agency analysis
of AFT's financial disclosure report for the 2009-10 fiscal year reveals the
national union contributed $2.6 million to advocacy groups and charities.
Though AFT gave to some of the same groups as NEA, the bulk of its spending
reflects its labor roots and affiliation with the AFL-CIO.
At more than $356,000, the Economic Policy Institute received the largest
amount of AFT contributions of any outside group. A look at the
organization's education page should leave little doubt as to why this
is so. Smaller amounts went to ACORN, The American Prospect, Health
Care for America Now!, Netroots Nation, and Workers Independent News.
Unlike NEA, AFT rarely sent contributions directly to ballot initiative
campaigns or independent expenditure projects. Such spending tended to be
the province of AFT's state federations, which received block grants from
the national union. Also unlike NEA, AFT sent significant sums to other
unions and union coalition groups (not included in the $2.6 million total),
such as its almost $1.5 million in grants to Colorado WINS, a labor
organization that is also affiliated with AFSCME and SEIU.
Here is an alphabetic list of the recipients of AFT's contributions, with
relevant web links. All of these were paid for with members' dues money (the
union's federal PAC is a separate entity funded through voluntary means):
ACORN - $22,770
Alliance for Retired Americans -
$6,500
American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center
- $11,000
American Labor Studies Center -
$5,000
The American Prospect - $100,000
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
- $5,000
Blue Green Alliance Foundation -
$81,995
Center for American Progress -
$25,000
Center for Citizenship Education (Mongolia)
- $17,025
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
- $100,000
Child Labor Coalition - $5,000
Children's Defense Fund - $7,000
Clergy Strategic Alliances -
$96,485
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
- $5,000
Coalition of Labor Union Women -
$5,000
Committee for Education Funding -
$19,357
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.
- $45,000
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
- $30,000
Council on Competitiveness - $5,000
Demos - $10,000
Economic Policy Institute -
$356,522
Freedom House - $30,000
Harvard Labor and Worklife Program
- $5,000
Health Care for America Now! -
$100,000
Healthy Schools Campaign - $5,500
Houston Turnout Project - $10,000
Interfaith Worker Justice - $5,000
International Labor Rights Forum -
$5,500
Jewish Labor Committee - $9,000
Jobs with Justice - $15,250
Justice Resource Center - $12,266
Keystone Research Center - $13,750
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
- $27,647
Labor Project for Working Families
- $7,500
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
- $50,000
League of United Latin American Citizens
- $15,000
Learning First Alliance - $107,658
Medicare Rights Center - $15,750
NAACP - $81,500
National Black Caucus of State Legislators
- $11,500
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
- $15,000
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- $52,800
National Council of La Raza -
$32,000
National Conference of State Legislatures
- $42,263
National Council of Negro Women -
$25,000
National Democratic Institute -
$50,000
National Endowment for Democracy -
$12,500
National Italian American Foundation
- $5,000
National Labor College - $246,670
National Staff Development Council
- $25,000
Netroots Nation - $50,000
New Mexico Voices for Children -
$20,000
Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
- $5,000
No Limits Foundation - $25,000
The Peggy Browning Fund - $5,500
Policy Matters Ohio - $50,000
Project New West - $10,000
Rainbow PUSH Coalition - $25,000
Rebuild America's Schools - $30,000
SHARE - $10,000
Special Olympics - $50,000
Unite L.A. - $50,000
United Way of the National Capital Area
- $10,000
U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute
- $15,000
Voices for America's Children -
$5,000
Workers Independent News - $50,000
Working America - $200,000
2) Last Week's Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from February 8-14:
* In
Defense of the Blogging Teacher. Shooting the crabby messenger.
*
State Union Wants to Break Up Milwaukee District. But neglects to ask
the Milwaukee local for its opinion.
*
"I don't get involved in politics." Unless it involves fundraising for
a 527 with which I agree.
*
DC, NYC Bow Out of Collaborpalooza. Coalition of the willing.
*
Uh, Maybe We Should Encourage Teachers to Blog. Could be worse.
3) Scheduling Note. The next EIA Communiqué
will appear on Tuesday, February 22.
4) Quote of the Week. "Not only is this inconsistent
with international human rights law, which recognizes a right to
collectively bargain with one's employer, but it also flies in the face of
decades of cooperation between the labor movement and the government in
Wisconsin." - Paul Secunda, law professor at Marquette University,
commenting on Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to reduce or eliminate many
public employee collective bargaining rights and privileges. (February 11
Reuters) |
