Courtesy of Victor Skinner, writing on NEAexposed.com:
A recent study of contributions made by the nation’s two largest teachers unions reveals that both shelled out millions in 2008-09, with a good chunk going to radical and scandal-ridden organizations.
The study, posted online by the Education Intelligence Agency, is further proof that the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers are out of step with their members, which union officials claim are evenly split between Democrat, Republican and Independent parties.
This is what the EIA found:
The AFT gave $46,894 to the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). That organization’s members gave tax evasion advice to pimps and prostitutes, encouraged struggling homeowners to walk away from their mortgages, and championed radical causes like softer immigration regulations and a government takeover of health care.
The AFT’s interest in government-run healthcare is also apparent in its $407,208 donation to the Economic Policy Institute, a union-funded progressive think tank that advocates for the expansion of unionized government jobs, and generally promotes organized labor’s interests.
The AFT also sent $125,000 to Health Care for America Now! HCAN, which is led by SEIU and ACORN, promotes a government takeover of health care.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network received $10,000 of AFT dues money to fight for gay rights. GLSEN’s leaders have a long-documented history of promoting sex-related issues to elementary-aged kids.
The AFT made smaller donations to groups that generally promote causes like the redistribution of American wealth. Those included $15,000 to the Apollo Alliance, and $25,000 to Jessie Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
In total, the AFT spent $5.3 million in dues income promoting radical left-wing advocacy groups and charities. Most of the money went to seemingly innocuous organizations with radical policies.
The NEA, which doled out $26 million in dues dollars, also sent the bulk of its money to the far left.
The anti-American, human rights fanatics at Amnesty International banked $7,500 from the NEA. The Economic Policy Institute got a quarter-million in NEA membership money. GLSEN received $157,500, and HCAN got $450,000 from the NEA.
MediaMatters, which attacks and distorts reports from conservative organizations, earned a $100,000 NEA check.
The NEA also gave a $10,000 donation to Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and $165,000 to People for the American Way, two organizations with extreme left-wing agendas.
The population control advocates at the Sierra Club pocketed $150,000 in NEA dues dollars. The Zimbabwe Teachers Association is even partially bankrolled ($10,000) by the NEA. Seriously?
That union, the ZIMTA, is aligned with despotic dictator Robert Mugabe’s political party, media reports show.
Some will argue that these teachers unions can contribute their income to whatever organization they like. We agree, and strongly defend that freedom.
But we also feel that union membership, and the taxpayers that pay their wages, deserve to know where the money is going and why. We also believe that teachers should be able to keep their dues dollars from financing union PACs, if they wish.
Former NEA president Reg Weaver has repeatedly claimed that the NEA’s membership is evenly divided into Democrats, Republicans and Independents. We suspect AFT members are similarly split.
Then why does their union not distribute their dues dollars evenly to reflect that split? That’s a good question, and one we would encourage union teachers to demand an answer to.
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