NEA has lost nearly 400,000 members since its peak in 2009. It could be because just 9% of the union’s spending is on representing teachers – with the rest on politics, administration and other union leader priorities.
By Mailee Smith | Illinois Policy Institute
The National Education Association’s own federal reports show the union is not focused on teachers.
NEA continued losing members in 2024, according to its federal report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor at the end of November. Losing 17,895 members in the 2024 fiscal year alone, the union’s membership has dropped by 395,327 education workers since its peak in 2009. That’s more than a 12% drop.
It’s no surprise, given NEA’s failure to prioritize teachers and their needs. Its federal filing revealed the following:
- Just 9% of NEA’s spending is on teacher representation, which should be its core focus
- Its spending on politics and other contributions is more than four times higher than its spending on representation
- NEA lavishes six-figure salaries on 410 of its own officers and employees
- The union spent nearly $5.3 million on travel and food for unspecified purposes
And while membership decreases, NEA dues increase – meaning it’s charging those members that remain more to cover its exorbitant spending.
NEA was granted a federal charter in 1906. At the time, its federally established purposes were to “elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching” and “promote the cause of education in the United States.”
But according to the union’s own reporting, those are no longer NEA’s focus. Its federal charter should be reevaluated.
Just 9% of NEA’s spending was on representing teachers
NEA spent more than $432 million in 2024. Yet not even $40 million was on “representational activities” – which should be the core purpose of the union. The rest was spent on politics, administration and other union leadership priorities.
To put this in perspective, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance states at least 65% of a nonprofit’s total expenses should be on program activities.
While the Wise Giving Alliance evaluates spending by charities, it stands to reason NEA’s spending of just 9% on representation should be a cause for concern among members.
NEA spent over 4X as much on politics and “contributions” as it did on representing teachers in 2024
NEA spent over $39.15 million on “political activities and lobbying” in 2024, along with an additional $127.97 million on other “contributions, gifts, and grants,” which are often political in nature – such as the $500,000 the union funneled to the main super PAC supporting the Kamala Harris campaign.
That means the union spent over four times more on politics and contributions than it did on representing members. And that $167.12 million encompassed 39% of NEA’s total spending in 2024.
Read more here.