NEA's Lobbying Costs Last Year: $131 Million

Rishawn Biddle at Dropout Nation just released a breakdown of the National Education Association’s 2012-2013 financial disclosure filings, which shows that the group spent $131 million of teachers' dues on lobbying efforts, about 4% more than last year. Interestingly, some of those contributions were to ed reform-minded organizations. Notes Biddle,

For example, the NEA handed $30,000 to the Leadership Council for Civil and Human Rights, one of the leading civil rights-based players in the school reform movement, and dropped $75,000 into the National Council of La Raza’s political action fund even though the outfit is also a major reform player. Another recipient of NEA largesse is Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. It picked up $100,000 from the union in 2012-21013 in spite of the civil rights leaders longtime support of expanding the very charter schools the NEA opposes, $75,000 more than in the previous fiscal year.

In the salary department, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel received $411K and VP Lilly Eskelsen Garcia made $347.5K.

Labels: NEA