Confessions of the National Teachers Association

Union Contributions
As an ex-dues paying member (12 1/2 years) to the National Education Association (NEA), experience shows that the teacher's unions do NOT represent their respective memberships - especially at the national level. They never have! Teachers forced to "contribute" union dues. Teaching contracts all have a "closed shop" clause that mandates teachers pay into the union coffers like it or not. This is a compulsory condition for employment. You have no choice but to join the union and pay dues or go elsewhere. (Reminiscent from the movie the God Father - "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse...")

Union Representation
Consequently, teachers have no choice about whether they even want to pay the NEA any dues. Teachers also have no choice in directing union dues (or not) for political donations to campaigns. Union bosses ("leadership") decide who gets campaign donations and how much they receive. Teachers, have no say on this matter. In fact, it's quite the opposite. They're told by the union representatives how to vote and for whom to vote! That's dictatorial - not representative! AND, it's also the union way! (Taxation without representation - sound familiar?)

Words of NEA's Legal Council
If you have any doubts as to why teacher's unions exist, their motivations, and their reasoning, this should make it quite clear for you to understand. Here are the words quoted by a National Education Association legal council bragging about the NEA union at a national meeting:

"Despite what some among us would like to believe, it is not because we care about children, and it's not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child.

NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have POWER. [my emphasis] And, we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year."

In Brief
Teachers unions - especially the National Education Association, have become nothing more than power-hungry entities who have considerable influence on National politics at the expense of the people who "Willingly" contribute their dues each year. This has to stop. This is corruption and power lust at its best.