According to a new report from the Capital Research Center - penned by Education Intelligence Agency sleuth Mike Antonucci (see http://members.aol.com/educationintel/) - an organization you've heard of "files unfair labor practice charges and restraining orders. Circumvents the other side's negotiators. Threatens to replace employees who go on strike. Cuts off employee health insurance coverage. Crosses picket lines." A big three automaker? Halliburton? Martha Stewart? Nope, it's the National Education Association, which deals with its own employees' union in ways that would raise caterwauls if it were a school district giving what-for to teachers. (Don't feel too bad for the NEA employees, though; Antonucci notes that "the average New Jersey Education Association professional staffer earned more than $100,000 - with an additional $32,000 in benefits and 34 paid off-days. In 2001, the compensation package for professional staffers at the California Teachers Association exceeded $135,000.") And the Wall Street Journal reports on the growing membership of non-union teachers' associations in states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, and Washington. These new groups have contributed to flat membership growth at the NEA and AFT by siphoning off members unhappy with the unions' far-flung pronouncements on social policy and intransigence on various education reforms.
"Do as I say, not as I do," by Mike Antonucci, Capital Research Center, July 2004
"Nonunion teacher groups cost NEA membership and clout," Daniel Golden, Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2004 (subscription required)