HARRISBURG, Pa. – The same people who clamor for more taxpayer money to fund big government are also spending more of their members’ dues in order to win 2014 midterm races. Guess who?

The usual suspects—The National Education Association (NEA), The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU)—don’t necessarily account members’ union dues spent on political activity as political expenditures. That spending is recorded as “Contributions, Gifts and Grants,” or “Representational Activities.”

While teachers think their union dues are going toward improving their working conditions—an often loud complaint from teachers in the Philadelphia School District—professional development, and liability insurance, union bosses are being paid six-figure salaries to travel the country and participate in partisan politics. In Pennsylvania, neither the NEA, nor the AFT are being bashful when spending union dues on political purposes.

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Reported in Education Week:

“This is really more than ever before,” said Karen White, the political director for the NEA, which is the nation’s largest union as well as its largest teachers’ union.

“Since the 2010 election, we have been building back against the right-wing and tea party governors and officeholders that got elected at the local and state level,” she said. “This year, we have a plethora of gubernatorial and down-ballot races that’s been the biggest [area] of our focus.”

The NEA Advocacy Fund had given $2.9 million through the end of September to the Democratic Governors Association, hoping to affect contests in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and other states where Republican governors have cut education aid or rolled back the collective bargaining rights of teachers’ unions.

The Advocacy Fund specifically directed $580,000 to PA Families First, whose mission is to oust Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican who made significant cuts to public education spending during his first three years in office. The AFT also slammed Gov. Corbett, most recently with a six-figure radio ad buy in the Philadelphia media market that criticizes the governor for cuts to education and for meddling in teacher contract negotiations in the Philadelphia school system. The AFT’s political action committee also gave $450,000 through Sept. 30 to Tom Wolf for Governor campaign organization, to support Mr. Corbett’s Democratic challenger.”

Hard-working teachers, focused on curriculum rather than politics, could easily be clueless as to where their union dues are being spent. For all they know, their funds encourage government growth, possibly adding another administrator to their district, and not supplies in the classroom.

“Considering that most of AFT’s members are public-sector workers, essentially all AFT activities are political. Even with politics narrowly defined as lobbying, campaign contributions and other payments to expressly political groups, AFT spends more on politics than teachers may expect.

Based on Political Activities and Lobbying spending plus payments to political organizations listed elsewhere in the union’s annual report, AFT poured more than $27 million in member dues into political activism during the 2014 fiscal year ending June 30.

Additionally, compensation for AFT bosses who travel the country demanding bigger government is frequently treated as general overhead. Only 2 percent of the $557,875 AFT paid President Randi Weingarten was reported as Political Activities and Lobbying in 2014.

“This is business as usual,” Association of American Educators communications director Alexandra Freeze told Watchdog.org in a phone interview. “Teachers unions are some of the biggest contributors to partisan politics in the country, and that’s coming out of teacher dues, it’s coming out of tax funds.”

“The members we welcome are certainly sick of being political pawns in that game and are not interested in funding partisan causes or candidacies, and they’re not interested in being told how to vote,” Freeze added.”

Proof of union dues being spent on political purposes in Pennsylvania can be found here and here, endorsed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

In comparison, SEIU, whose presence surfaces when, for example, healthcare worker and minimum wage issues emerge, have reported also spending a half billion, nationally, last year. They, too, mark a majority of their spending on “representational activities.”

According to the Pittsburgh-Tribune:

“…SEIU’s national organization spent $51.6 million on political activities and lobbying, and $108.8 million on “representational activities,” a catch-all category that covers contract negotiations, organizing a workplace and recruiting new members, according to Department of Labor filings. By comparison, United Steelworkers spent $7.6 million on political activities and $89 million on representational activities.”

Authored by Jana Benscoter

Published with permission