Education COMMUNIQUÃ‰

4) San Francisco Anti-War Resolution Watered Down; "Day of Discussion" May Not Be

1) IRS Auditing California Teachers Association. Multiple sources within the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association inform EIA that the California Teachers Association is undergoing a comprehensive audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

EIA has received no evidence to corroborate rumors that other NEA state affiliates are also being audited. CTA did not

respond to requests for comment. NEA did respond with "We have not been apprised of any such audit, and we assume it is the normal, random audit that organizations and individuals routinely undergo." Since the IRS never comments on audits or possible audits, there is no way to tell for certain (even for NEA and CTA) whether this audit is normal and random, or whether it was inspired by a tip, or even by the complaints filed in 2000 by the Landmark Legal Foundation. If, however, other affiliates are being audited, it would be reasonable to assume that the IRS was not being random.

The California Teachers Association collected in excess of $145 million in dues last year.

2) AFT Auditors Say $5 Million Missing from DC Teachers Union. The American Federation of Teachers filed a racketeering lawsuit against former Washington Teachers Union (WTU) President Barbara Bullock and others in what the union now claims was an illegal diversion of at least $5 million in members' dues. In support of its suit, AFT released the report of the forensic investigators it hired to follow the WTU money trail.

The Washington Post also reported that the AFT has begun the process of establishing an "administratorship" over WTU, which would place AFT in control of the local union's day-to-day operations. At the same time, a rank-and-file proposal to dissolve the WTU executive board will be issued at the next board meeting on January 27. The Post editorial page called the new estimate of misappropriation "breathtaking" and asked the question on everyone's mind: "How could such an allegedly massive misappropriation of union funds occur over such a long period of time and under the noses of so many people, including the union's board of directors, the union's members and the American Federation of Teachers, which is the parent organization?"

* The $144 per member dues overcharge last summer - the event that led to the unraveling of the conspiracy - was an attempt by Bullock to pay off the delinquent AFT national dues WTU owed for at least two years. AFT reported receiving payment of the delinquent dues by July 2002. This also explains why Bullock proposed that the members apply the overcharge

to future dues, rather than simply reimburse themâ€¦ the money has already been sent to AFT.

* Interim WTU President Esther Hankerson's name was apparently forged on several questionable checks. Hankerson says the bank notified her about one of these and she confronted Bullock (though she told the bank to honor the check). She says Bullock admitted to the deed and said she would reimburse the money, but Hankerson took no further action.

* The AFT audit suggests Bullock and Company may have had a confederate at the bank at which many of the checks were cashed, since scores of them had the names of legitimate payees crossed out and the name of Bullock's chauffeur written in, yet the bank cashed each one without incident.

* Leroy Holmes, Bullock's chauffeur, believed his salary to be $105,000, though this amount was greater than that received by any other WTU employee, except for Bullock.

* The auditors confirmed the obvious. The union's LM-2 report to the U.S. Department of Labor "does not accurately depict the true nature and amount of the transactions that we discovered during our investigation." Also, the accountant who helped prepare and file the report did so knowing they "were not accurate and, at a minimum, were grossly misleading." The auditors could locate only one LM-2, though they are supposed to be filed annually.

* Two political contributions were made with WTU dues, a violation of federal law. One, of $9,000, went the Democratic National Committee, the other, of $2,000, went to Hillary Clinton's 2000 election campaign. Both returned the money when informed of its origin by AFT.

AFT believes the WTU scandal to be an aberration, and it may well be. There may not be other local AFT officials with $13,000 plasma TVs and Tiffany silverware. But the lack of oversight, whistleblowing, accountability, or even routine reporting, displayed by union officials, staff, staff unions, and elected representatives over a six-year period cannot be dismissed as an aberration. It too often is standard operating procedure, making cases like that of WTU not only predictable, but likely.

3) Unions to Face Increased Federal Regulation. Unions across America are about to learn why it is that many conservatives and libertarians constantly call for smaller government: regulatory compliance can be hell on your operations. The

U.S. Department of Labor released for public comment its newest version of Form LM-2, Labor Organization Annual Report.

The current version requires unions with any members working in the private sector to report their incomes and expenditures in broad categories, and list the salaries and expenses of their officers and employees.

The new version not only requires a greater itemization of expenditures, but also a breakdown of membership numbers by active, associate and retired status, along with the number of agency fee payers in the organization. But unions will squawk the loudest over the new requirement to list the percentage of time each union officer and employee worked on contract negotiation, organizing, administration, political activities, and lobbying.

NEA and AFT national offices will have to fill out the new form, but most state affiliates are not subject to the reporting requirements because they represent public employees only. Neither NEA nor AFT have issued a statement about the LM-2 requirements, though any written comments to the Labor Department will become public record and available through the Freedom of Information Act. For those interested in seeing the new form and instructions for themselves, they are available on the Internet as an Adobe Acrobat file at:

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/28dec20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2002/pdf/02-32445.pdf

4) San Francisco Anti-War Resolution Watered Down; "Day of Discussion" May Not Be. The San Francisco Board of Education unanimously passed a series of resolutions concerning a possible war with Iraq. Though the resolutions were more

moderate in tone than their original versions, the actual events they presage promise to be anything but the even-handed "day of

The Oakland school district, whose school board had approved a similar resolution, held its teach-in last Tuesday. Organizers called the event "a timely exercise in critical thinking," even though they claimed to be unable to find speakers who didn't support their anti-war agenda. The San Francisco resolution states that the "day of discussion," which is to take place within the next two months, is necessary because "it is essential that the people and students of San Francisco be well-informed

of the root causes of war and the consequences of military action by their government."

EIA was unable to confirm stories that a Baghdad Board of Education resolution to examine "the root causes of war and

the consequences of military action by its government" was literally buried when board members were placed six feet closer to actual roots.

5) District Consolidation Picks Up Steam in Arkansas. Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his plan to restructure the state's public education system, consolidating its 310 school districts into no more than 116. Huckabee's plan is being justified as a response to a state Supreme Court decision placing responsibility for an adequate education on the state's shoulders, rather than those of local school boards.

The proposal was met with immediate opposition, primarily by teachers, administrators and parents in the state's small rural districts, who believe the plan will devastate their communities. Huckabee admitted the consolidations "will be painful for many in our state," but said they were necessary in order to better manage a state schools budget that is estimated to almost double under the court's order.

Consolidation makes sense from a business standpoint - and indeed the Arkansas business community enthusiastically supports the Huckabee plan - but economies of scale in public education tend to be accompanied by an increasing diversion of

resources to secondary or support functions, often culminating in fewer resources being devoted to instruction, the school district's primary mission (ref. EIA's 1999 report Mission Creep: How Large School Districts Lose Sight of the Objective - Student Learning, hyperlink on the Reports page of the EIA website).

If fewer, larger school districts were the keys to economic efficiency and high student achievement, New York City and Los Angeles would be the models for the nation. In a state like Arkansas, where district headquarters might be hundreds of miles away from individual schools, the isolation of parents will be that much worse.

Note. "Code-Crackers," my article on ciphers and intelligence in the Civil War, was published in a special edition by Primedia, in a magazine entitled Spies and Secret Missions: A History of American Espionage. The other articles included in the edition are also well worth your time. The magazine is available on bookstore newsstands everywhere.

6) Quote of the Week #1. "It's a new day for the union. We will work to restore to members the rights, benefits and trust that have been lost under the present administration." - Barbara A. Bullock, in a speech to members upon assuming the presidency of the Washington Teachers Union on July 12, 1994.

Quote of the Week #2. "The children are the ones who have suffered. The money that should have been put into the classroom, for supplies and equipment, was spent for salaries." - Barbara A. Bullock, calling for the prosecution of D.C. Public

Schools Superintendent Franklin L. Smith for overspending the district budget. (February 21, 1997 Washington Post)

Quote of the Week #3. "What is also clear is that the Federal government's failure to fund what it promised has saddled the District with a debt it can never overcome and caused our members to question whether or not there will be a pension system when they reach retirement age." - James O. Baxter II, in his role as treasurer of the Washington Teachers Union, testifying before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Civil Service Subcommittee, on the D.C. retirement system. Baxter is implicated the WTU scandal, which included the nonpayment of pension contributions for employees and retirees of WTU. (Federal Document Clearing House, April 29, 1997)

The Education Intelligence Agency conducts public education research, analysis and investigations. Director: Mike Antonucci. PO Box 580007, Elk Grove, CA 95758. Ph: 916-422-4373.

Thy Voice In My Behalf: Teacher Union Political Spending

"It’s typical for about half the money the union PACs collect in a cycle to be contributed to candidates or as soft money, while the rest is spent on administration, transfered to other PACs, or carried over to the next cycle. During the 1998 election cycle, NEA spent $1,853,390 in direct contributions. Most of these were in $10,000 chunks to House Democrats..."
"Using the CRP database, EIA constructed a list of the top soft money contributors to state Democratic Party committees for all 50 states. In 25 states, NEA ranked in the top 30 contributors and took first place in four states (Florida, Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin)..."
(EIA Reports)

This Week's News: Members File Class Action Suit Against NEA Members Insurance Trust

Internal NEA sources tell EIA that a class action lawsuit has been filed against the union and the insurance arm of its Member Benefits Corporation for failing to distribute a $17.3 million windfall to members who participated in the members-only insurance plan.
NEA offers perks through its Member Benefits Corporation that include credit cards, banking and mortgage services, and insurance. In December 2001, NEA held a group life insurance policy on behalf of some 400,000 members with the Prudential Insurance Company. That month, Prudential converted to a stockholders’ company, a process known as demutualization. It distributed shares of stock to all its policyholders, including some 600,000 shares to NEA that were valued at $17.3 million.
The lawsuit arose from the fact that NEA itself holds the policy, not the individual members who participate. The union therefore felt justified in keeping the Prudential stock proceeds for the Members Insurance Trust itself rather than go through the cumbersome process of distributing payments of less than $40 to each of the member participants. An unidentified member, on behalf of a class of all participants in the NEA insurance program as of December 2001, filed suit in U.S. District Court, seeking distribution of the money to the members.

THE NEA IS A LABOR UNION!

The National Education Association: Emphasis on the Ass

The National Everything Association

Where Do My NEA Dues Go?

NEA Hastens Death of American Education

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.