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1) Coming This Fall: NEA Media
Barrage. I know it's difficult to keep track of
the various categories of NEA spending, particularly as it relates to
political campaigns and policy interactions with the general public. The one
important distinction to make is between NEA PAC money, which is raised
voluntarily through individual donations and is spent solely on candidates
for federal office, and all other political spending, which is financed
through dues taken from the paychecks of NEA members.
Political expenditures, loosely defined,
are infused throughout the national union's budget, but the bulk of the
money that shows up in various campaigns and legislative battles in the 50
states comes from NEA's Ballot Measures/Legislative Crises (BMLC) Fund,
which I discussed in detail
a couple of weeks ago. But that fund is only part of the picture.
Beginning this year, NEA will collect a
$20 special assessment from each active (meaning, working) member - up from
$10 in previous years. In accordance with the union's bylaws, only 60
percent of the roughly $40 million raised is directed to the BMLC fund. The
other 40 percent goes into the union's Media Campaign Fund.
Though mutually supportive, the Media
Campaign Fund money is disbursed to NEA state affiliates through a separate
application process from the BMLC fund. However, while almost all of the
BMLC fund is sent to state affiliates, only 20 percent of the Media Campaign
Fund leaves Washington, DC. The remainder is kept by NEA for national media
projects, as well as distribution to a handful of media partners.
Last year, NEA granted $725,000 in media
funds to four state affiliates: $170,000 to Connecticut, $175,000 to
Michigan, $205,000 to Nebraska, and $175,000 to West Virginia.
The union approved grants for 2011-12
before the doubling of the allocation, but still managed to fill $1.5
million of the $4.9 million in requests it received from state affiliates.
The current awards will go to:
Alaska - $75,000
Delaware - $43,500
Florida - $135,000
Idaho - $115,000
Illinois - $400,000
Michigan - $308,000
Minnesota - $125,000
South Carolina - $70,000
Utah - $105,000
Vermont - $108,500
West Virginia - $35,000
The bulk of the Media Campaign Fund
money is spent on projects like the Priority
Schools Campaign, the Gateway to Education Materials (GEM) project, and an
array of sponsorships. The union financially supported the Celebration of
Teaching and Learning professional development conference last year. It
contributes to the
Teacher Leaders Network
and sponsors This Is America with Dennis Wholey on PBS.
Even
innocuous events such as National Teacher Day have a political component, as
NEA promoted it "through targeted radio advertising in several key
battleground states - Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana."
Finally, NEA
used Media Campaign Fund money to contribute to Media Matters, which the
union describes as a "media watchdog group that
monitors the way issues are covered in the media and challenges opinions and
coverage of issues through original stories or as reported through print and
mostly television media through commentary by the principals of the
organization."
Media Matters, on the other hand,
describes itself as a "progressive research and information center
dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting
conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."
With twice the budget, the NEA Media
Campaign Fund will be able to devote additional money to shore up the
union's public image in those places where it is most vulnerable. Many state
affiliates will follow suit with their own funds. Expect to see many more
union ads than at any time in the past.
2) Last Week's Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from July 19-25:
*
How to Gather 1.3 Million Signatures. In Ohio, 1.3 million signatures
are front-page news, but 352,000 invalid ones don't even rate a sentence.
*
Bad Rahmance. If Mayor Emanuel's unionized private school charges twice
as much per student as Chicago public schools, why do the teachers make the
same salary?
* Sucking
the Air Out of California. CTA to newspaper: "You're making fun of us!"
*
Cartoonish. Newspaper to CTA: "Get over it."
*
The Short Version. Arbitration expedited.
3)
Quote of the Week.
"Each year, even without making new hires, districts face higher costs
because of annual pay increases for staff and the rising cost of medical
benefits. It's unclear whether the legislation asks districts to spend the
same amount on teachers as it did last year or to employ the same number of
teachers." - Diana Lambert, reporter for the Sacramento Bee,
describing the confusion caused by Assembly Bill
114, which directs school districts to ignore revenue shortfalls when
setting staffing levels. (July 24
Sacramento Bee) |
