NEA members are a politically diverse group, but the union’s spending on political and social causes do not reflect that diversity. In 2004, NEA president Reg Weaver said the nation’s teachers are evenly divided between political parties—one-third Democrat, one-third Republican, and one-third independent.[1] Yet that same year, the NEA gave 92 percent of its political action committee contributions to Democrats.[2] The discrepancy continues to this day where, halfway through the 2006 election season, 87 percent of NEA PAC contributions have gone to Democrats.[3]
The NEA’s spending on social causes does not reflect its diverse makeup either. A Department of Labor[4] report filed by the NEA showed it gave almost 20 percent[5] of its entire budget in contributions, gifts and grants to organizations that often lean left including:
- Human Rights Campaign ($15,000)
- National Women's Law Center ($5,000)
- Rainbow/PUSH Coalition ($5,000)
- Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network ($5,000)
- Democratic Leadership Council ($25,000)
- Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ($40,000)
- Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute ($35,000)
- Economic Policy Institute ($45,000)
- Ballot Initiative Strategy Center ($75,000)
- People for the American Way ($51,000)
- Fund to Protect Social Security ($400,000)
- Rock the Vote Education Fund ($10,000)
- Floridians For All ($249,000)
- Alliance for Nevada's Working Families ($250,000)
A significant percentage of the NEA’s grants also went to its UniServes[6] to fund the NEA’s agenda on a local level.
The NEA’s Department of Labor report also included $17.7 million in political contributions to support its agenda.
The report did not list any contributions to organizations representing the other side of the spectrum, leaving a third of NEA members unrepresented by the union’s social advocacy. This disproportionate nature of the union’s social advocacy has been described as a “honey pot for left-wing political causes ….”[7]
