NEA Turns to Its Charity Arm to Raise Money for Collective Bargaining Rallies
posted at 1:36 pm on March 9, 2011 by Mike Antonucci
Over the years, the National Education Association has created many subsidiaries to fulfill a multitude of tasks not suitable for the union to handle directly. One of these is a 501(c)(3) charity organization called The NEA Foundation. Its activities have been similar to those of any other education-related charity. The NEA Foundation lists its mission priorities as closing the achievement gap, providing small grants to educators, and handing out awards. The foundation also purchases library books for needy schools and helps fundraise to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Member dues money helped create the endowment for The NEA Foundation, but its 501(c)(3) status allows it to accept donations from individuals, corporations and philanthropies – something the union itself cannot do. The foundation currently has net assets of more than $40 million.
But with teacher collective bargaining in danger in a handful of states, NEA is drawing on all of its resources to make a stand – and that includes The NEA Foundation.
Having already decided to tap the members for additional funds for its political war chest, NEA sees the opportunity to use the foundation to raise money from non-members and outside groups for its political battles to come.
Under the auspices of The NEA Foundation, the union created The 51 Fund:
By donating to the 51 Fund, support will go to where the need is greatest: to assist people fighting back on the frontlines. The 51 Fund will help feed volunteers, organize rallies, and get the message out to people everywhere that the right to collective bargaining ensures a strong middle-class. And, a strong middle-class is the back-bone of our economic vitality.
Checks are to be made out to the NEA Foundation, though the web site advises parenthetically “Please indicate on check that contribution is for the ’51 Fund’.” What isn’t clear is how much segregation exists between the 51 Fund and the rest of the charity. If I write a check to The NEA Foundation, will my donation buy library books for underprivileged children, or pizza for picket captains at state capitols?
Blowback
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Sadly, it seems the concept of “taint” isn’t being taught to youngsters any more. If you have a 50-piece box of fudge, and know that some has been intermixed with used dog food, does it matter if you know that 1 piece or 49 pieces have been so mixed? The whole batch is tainted, and needs to be thrown out.
A lot of our institutions have been tainted.
cthulhu on March 9, 2011 at 2:44 PM
My daughter, who is in 5th grade, brought home a fund-raiser “for kids.” I did a little checking and discovered that the “charity” getting the milk jugs full of spare change are going to the Idaho Education Association’s Children’s Fund, which is a charity that gives out emergency funds, clothing, and school supplies when a teacher notices an unmet need. However, as written in their 2009 form 990, they collected over $120,000 and handed out just over half of that amount. The rest is supposedly sitting in a bank account somewhere. At the end of 2009, they had over $300,000. Wonder if the “assets” are being loaned to the union for other activities at a reasonable interest rate…
I have contacted the board of trustees of my district demanding to know why my 11 year old is expected to work as an unpaid volunteer for the teacher’s union.
spudmom on March 9, 2011 at 9:23 PM
UPDATE: The school district is reviewing its policies on having students participate in non-school related fund raisers. Perhaps the principals will no longer have complete discretion on what “charities” are permitted to get students to do their work for them.
Oh, and those “assets?” They are supposedly trying to set up an endowment so they no longer need to actually raise money.
spudmom on March 11, 2011 at 6:27 PM