Posted on 04/25/2002 7:08:48 AM PDT by wcdukenfield
Unions: That the teachers unions back Democrats is no surprise. They have for years. But why won’t they reveal the extent of that support?
Certainly the unions are free, even duty-bound, to back candidates that share their views. And for the most part that’s meant Democrats. In the 2000 election cycle, for instance, 96% of the $6.1 million teachers unions gave to federal candidates went to Democrats, says the Center for Responsive Politics.
But that amount seems to pale next to the amount spent by the unions to back Democrats with in-kind services such as campaign advice, petition-gatherers and phone bank workers. The only problem: We don’t know just how much they’re spending.
Landmark Legal Foundation has filed a complaint with the Department of Labor pointing this out. Since 1994, the group alleges, the National Education Association has hidden its political spending from disclosure reports required by the Labor Management Disclosure and Reporting Act.
Lumped into “Grants to and Joint Projects with State affiliates,” the NEA has spent more than $279 million since 1994. How much of that is on politics is unclear. But other NEA literature suggests it’s a lot.
A 1994 NEA report on its accomplishments lists an expenditure of $2,517,701 on “Government Relations program assistance to state affiliates,” which included “candidate recruitment and recommendation; campaign staff and support and member mobilization; PAC fund-raising...”
The report listed $792,422 to “secure member support for Association-endorsed candidates, campaign assistance, strategic planning assistance, and/or training was provided to all state affiliates. Support was provided in 34 states for gubernatorial races.”
That’s what the union talks about. But that amount is just 6% of the amount listed above. Is that all the NEA spent on politicking? It seems unlikely, to be sure. And as a tax-exempt union, the NEA is also required to report its political spending and pay corporate income taxes on it. It hasn’t, at least for the last eight years.
As mentioned, the NEA has every right to take part in the political process. But it doesn’t have the right to hide how much it spends on politics from its members, much less the government.
It’s sad that the group entrusted with imparting truth and wisdom to children looks to be less than truthful.
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