In many states, teachers are required by law to join the NEA and the NEA's state affiliate. In other states, the NEA coerces teachers to join. Our taxes fund public schools and pay teachers. Teachers must pay anywhere from several hundred dollars to over $1000 per year in NEA dues. Now consider the following:
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)..."
So at least part of your tax money is going to fund the DemoRATS via the NEA.
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.
That's $17.3 Million that the NEA wants to keep to fund their liberal agenda in the public schools. It's difficult to fight them when they have so much money.