National Education Association

National Education Association (NEA)

Founded	1857
Members	3.2 million (2006) [1]
Affiliations	Independent
Website	www.nea.org/

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest professional employee organization in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has 3.2 million members and is headquartered in Washington DC. It employs over 550 staff and had a budget of more than $307 million for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Reg Weaver, a graduate of Roosevelt University, is the NEA's current president. NEA is both a professional association and a labor union (though it is not a member of the AFL-CIO).

Mission

The stated mission of the National Education Association is "to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.", as well as concerning itself with the wage and working condition issues common to other labor unions.

The NEA is a volunteer-based organization that relies upon its members to perform much of the Association's work. In turn, the members are supported by a network of staff at the local, state, and national levels. The stated goal of NEA's work is encapsulated in its tagline: "building great public schools for every child."[2]

At the local level, affiliates perform a variety of activities (as determined by the local members), which may range from raising funds for scholarship programs to conducting professional workshops on issues that affect faculty and school support staff to bargaining contracts for school district employees.[3]

The activities of NEA state affiliates are equally wide-ranging. State affiliates regularly lobby state legislators for funding and other resources; they seek to influence education policy; they campaign for higher professional standards for educators and support professionals; and, they file legal actions to protect academic freedom and the rights of school employees. [4] The extent to which the NEA and its state and local affiliates engage in political activities, especially during election cycles has, however, been a source of controversy. [5][6][7]

At the national level, the NEA lobbies the United States Congress and federal agencies on behalf of its members and public schools, works with other education organizations and friends of public education, provides training and assistance to its affiliates, and generally conducts activities consistent with the policies set by its elected governing bodies [8].

Political activities

NEA has played a role in politics since its founding, as it has sought to influence state and federal laws that would have a positive impact on public education. Every political position adopted by NEA was brought by one of its members to the annual Representative Assembly, where it was considered on the floor, debated, and voted on by elected delegates.

The organization tracks legislation related to education and the teaching profession and encourages members to get involved in politics through a comprehensive Legislative Action Center on its website. Because of the NEA's large membership it commands considerable funds and personnel, and therefore exercises substantial power in the political process.

The following list notes some of the political causes around which NEA has been active:[9]

• 1867: successfully lobbied Congress to establish a federal Department of Education (it was subsequently demoted to an Office in 1868 and would not again attain a Department level until 1979)
• 1890s: concerned about the disruptive influence child labor had on the health and education of children, NEA lobbied for compulsory schooling and the enactment of child labor laws
• 1910s: responding to increased immigration, NEA renewed lobbying efforts for a national Department of Education that would help fund programs to reduce illiteracy, train teachers, and equalize education opportunities for all children
• 1912: NEA endorses Women's Suffrage
• 1919: NEA members in New Jersey lead the way to the nation's first state pension; by 1945, every state had a pension plan in effect
• 1941: NEA successfully lobbied Congress for special funding for public schools near military bases
• 1945: NEA lobbied for the G.I. Bill of Rights to help returning soldiers continue their education
• 1958: NEA helps gain passage of the National Defense Education Act
• 1964: NEA lobbies to pass the Civil Rights Act
• 1968: NEA leads an effort to establish the Bilingual Education Act
• 1974: NEA backs a case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court that proposes to make unlawful the firing of pregnant teachers or forced maternity leave
• 1984: NEA fights for and wins passage of a federal retirement equity law that provides the means to end sex discrimination against women in retirement funds
• 2000s: NEA has lobbied for changes to the ESEA/No Child Left Behind Law

In recent decades the NEA has greatly increased its visibility in party politics, endorsing almost exclusively Democratic Party candidates and contributing funds and other assistance to political campaigns. The NEA asserts itself "non-partisan", but critics point out that the NEA has endorsed and provided support for every Democratic Party presidential nominee from Jimmy Carter to John Kerry and has never endorsed any Republican or third party candidate for the nation's highest office[10][11]. However, NEA has endorsed and supported Republican political candidates for Congressional and Gubernatorial offices. In 2006, NEA funded over 300 candidates, a list which included Democrats, Republicans and Independents, such as Mike Simpson, Richard Lugar, Olympia Snowe, Jim Gerlach, John M. McHugh and Bernard Sanders, among others.

Based on required filings with the federal government, it is estimated that between 1990 and 2002 ninety percent of the NEA's substantial political contributions went to Democratic Party candidates. Although this has been questioned as being out of balance with the more diverse political views of the broader membership, [12] the NEA maintains that it bases support for candidates primarily on the organization's interpretation of candidates' support for public education and educators. Every Presidential candidate endorsed by NEA must be approved by majority vote among the members themselves at NEA's annual Representative Assembly.

Others benefitting from NEA funding, according to the most recent filings, include Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International and AIDS Walk Washington.[13]

Structure and governance

NEA's 3.2 million members are served by 14,000 local affiliates (including some 800 higher education affiliates), 51 state-level affiliates (50 state associations and the Federal Education Association), and roughly 555 staff members working at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and in regional offices. [14]

Representative Assembly

NEA members themselves set Association policy, most notably through the Representative Assembly or "RA." The RA -- a delegation comprising elected representatives from each local and state affiliate, coalitions of student members and retired members, and other segments of the united education profession -- is the primary legislative and policymaking body of the Association. The RA meets annually the first week of July to adopt a strategic plan and budget, make resolutions, and develop other policies that guide the work of the Association. Those delegates with full voting rights also elect the executive officers, Executive Committee members, and at-large members of the NEA Board of Directors as appropriate. The RA is the largest democratic deliberative assembly in the world and adheres to Roberts Rules of Order.

Executive Officers, Board of Directors and Executive Committee

The executive officers of the Association are Reg Weaver, President; Dennis Van Roekel, Vice President; and, Lily Eskelsen, Secretary-Treasurer. These three posts are elected by the Representative Assembly.

The Board of Directors and Executive Committee are responsible for the general policies and interests of the Association, and are subject to policies established by the Representative Assembly. The Board of Directors consists of one director from each state affiliate (plus an additional director for every 20,000 active members in the state), six directors for the Retired members, and three directors for the Student members. The Board also includes at-large representatives of ethnic minorities, administrators, classroom teachers in higher education, and active members employed in educational support positions. The Executive Committee consists of nine members: the three executive officers and six members elected at large by delegates to the Representative Assembly. The executive officers and other members of the Executive Committee are ex officio members of the Board of Directors.

Symbol of the United Education Profession

Adopted in 1966, this symbol, which appears inside the 'e' in the NEA logo, combines the mathematical symbol for Pi (the ancient Greek word for education) with a forward-facing arrow, both of which are set upon a background shaped as a spherical triangle, which represents the mutually supportive programs of local, state, and national education associations. This symbol, then, represents the forward thrust of education through a united profession.

History

The NEA was founded as the National Teachers Association (NTA) in 1857, and adopted its present name in 1870. It was chartered by Congress in 1906 and merged with the American Teachers Association, formerly called the National Association of Colored Teachers, in 1966. In the 1960s, the NEA adopted union activities to supplement its long history of operating as a professional association. At the 150th anniversary of its founding, NEA membership had grown to 3.2 million, including those members forced by employment agreements to join.

Early history

Prior to the NEA's founding, teachers had formed professional associations in 15 individual states, but there was no cohesive national association uniting them. That changed in 1857 when Thomas W. Valentine, president of the New York State Teachers Association, issued a nation-wide invitation to teachers to unite behind a common voice for America's growing public school system. Soon after, NTA was born. Initial membership was close to 100.[15]

Even though minority educators were able to join the Association from the start, women were barred from joining until 1866.[16] Over the ensuing decades NEA became a leading voice in the national movement for women's rights. NEA elected its first female president, Ella Flagg Young, in 1910, a decade before Congress granted voting rights to women.[17]

NTA became the National Education Association in 1870 when it merged with the American Normal School Association, the National Association of School Superintendents, and the Central College Association.[18]

On its 100th birthday in 1957, NEA had over 700,000 members.[19]

NEA-ATA merger

NEA merged officially with the American Teachers Association -- the historically Black teachers association originally founded as the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools (NATCS) -- in 1966, but mutual interests had fostered a close working relationship between the two organizations over several decades before that.[20]

In 1926 the two organizations formed a Joint Committee comprised of members of both organizations that was tasked with studying the lack of accreditation of Black high schools, which blocked Black students from acceptance in many colleges and universities.[21] Eventually, the Committee garnered evaluation and accreditation for Black high schools. It also advocated for equal school funding, collected data on the status of Black education, and promoted fair treatment of Blacks in textbooks while pressuring publishers to do so.[22]

Although racial segregation in public schools was still the norm, NEA advocated for change. In the 1940s, the Association had refused to hold Representative Assemblies in cities that discriminated against delegates based on race. It had also affiliated with 18 Black teacher's associations in states where Black teachers were prohibited from joining White organizations.[23]

Finally, in 1966, after more than 20 years of collaboration, cooperation and planning, NEA and ATA agreed to a merger at the RA in Miami Beach, Fla. After NEA President Richard Batchelder and ATA President R. J. Martin signed the merger agreement, both men rose and the entire Representative Assembly stood and burst into song with The Battle Hymn of the Republic, singing, "Glory, glory hallelujah!"[24][25]

NEA-AFT partnership

In 1998, a proposed merger with the American Federation of Teachers failed when it was rejected by NEA's Representative Assembly. http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/05/nea.merger/]. In the meantime, several NEA state affiliates have merged with their AFT counterparts, effectively forming a single union in those states; unified NEA-AFT associations include those in Florida, Minnesota, Montana, and New York.

Further, NEA and AFT continue to cooperate and work towards common goals through the "NEAFT Partnership." This Partnership leaves each organization free to differ and to conduct work separately and independently, but enables the two groups to collaborate at every level of each organization.[26]

Recent growth

Before the 1960s, only a small portion of public school teachers were unionized.[27] But that began to change when, in 1959, Wisconsin became the first state to pass a collective bargaining law for public employees. Over the next 20 years, most other states adopted similar laws. The passage of these laws had a significant impact on NEA, which began to serve members as a labor union, in addition to serving members as a professional association. Passage of these new labor laws, along with NEA's new role as a labor union, helped NEA membership grow from 766,000 in 1961[28] to roughly 3.2 million today.

In 2006, the NEA and the AFL-CIO also announced that, for the first time, stand-alone NEA locals as well as those that had merged with the AFT would be allowed to join state and local labor federations affiliated with the AFL-CIO.[29]

Funding

Most NEA funding comes from dues paid by its members (($295 million in dues from a $341 million total budget in 2005). Typically, local chapters negotiate a contract with automatic deduction of dues from members' paychecks. Part of the dues remain with the local affiliate (the district association), part will go to the state association, and part will move on to the national association. Although dues moves through the state and national associations, a large portion typically comes back to the local chapters through grants.

Federal law prohibits unions from using dues money or other assets to contribute to or otherwise assist federal candidates or political parties, in accordance with their tax-exempt status, generating another point of controversy regarding the amount of such assistance (overwhelmingly to Democratic Party candidates) the NEA actually engages in. The NEA Fund for Children and Public Education is a special fund for voluntary contributions from NEA members which can legally be used to assist candidates and political parties.

Criticism

Substantial criticism has been leveled against the NEA and other teachers unions for allegedly putting the interests of teachers ahead of students and for consistently opposing reforms that critics claim would help students but harm union interests.[30] The NEA has supported class size reductions and across-the-board salary increases for teachers: two measures that increase the number and compensation of NEA teachers. On the other hand, the NEA has often opposed measures such as merit pay, school vouchers, reforms to teacher tenure, curriculum reform, the No Child Left Behind Act, and many accountability reforms. In a 1999 interview, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan said that "ever since the judges have gotten heavily into education, and the National Education Association has gotten into control of that Department of Education, test scores go down, there’s violence in classroom, things are going wrong". Also criticized is the NEA's alleged "goal of changing public opinion on homosexuality, starting with the youngest generation,"[31] according to a former chairman of the NEA Ex-Gay Educators Caucus. [32].[33] [34]

Some have criticized the NEA for its opposition to education reforms of Republican administrations, including the bipartisan No Child Left Behind law and pay-for-performance plans such as merit pay.

Also criticized by some is what they perceive as the NEA's promotion of the gay rights agenda, especially since the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 2005 case Fields v. Palmdale School District. The court in that case ruled that parents' fundamental right to control the upbringing of their children "does not extend beyond the threshold of the school door," and that a public school has the right to provide its students with "whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise." NEA maintains that it does not “encourage schools to teach students to become gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered (GLBT),” but the Association does believe that schools should be safe for all students and advocates that schools should raise awareness of homophobia and intervene when GLBT students are harassed."[35]

The NEA is also on record against home schooling. While the efficacy of home schooling has been proven and many home schoolers have better academic records than similar students educated in public and private schools, the NEA, in the interest of their members, is against this form of education.

In recent years NEA has been criticized for spending members' dues money on political activities. In a closely related matter, NEA has come under fire for taking advantage of laws in some states that compel, under certain conditions, membership in the association. In a case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court (Davenport v. Washington Education Association) on behalf of 4,000 Washington State teachers who are not NEA members but are nonetheless forced to pay NEA dues, the Court partially addressed the issue of collection and use of dues by unions such as the NEA [36].

External links

• National Education Association Web site
• NEA Fund for Children and the Public
• "National Education Association." Infoplease. Based on Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2007.
• NEA Accountability Project. Landmark Legal Foundation. No date.
• Mike Antonucci's education blog
• Learning for a Cause, non-profit Canadian educational organization promoting the arts in education.
• American Federation of Teachers Web site