Union Teachers OK Dues Increase
ByANJETTA McQUEEN
AP Education Writer

-Teachers agreed to increase their union dues to help fight private school voucher plans, which are often backed by wealthy interests pushing for changes in state laws. [Not True. Most Voucher programs are supported by grass roots organizations. The Teachers Union raise its money from its members who are paid by your taxes. the union in turn feeds the due money back into political action lobbies which give money to politicians running for office. In short they use the money they should be using to teach your kids to insure job security] "We have to help our state affiliates defeat vouchers and other ballot initiatives and to overcome the legislative crises that would undermine public education," said Bob Chase, president of the 2.5 million-member National Education Association, which holding its annual meeting here.

About 10,000 delegates approved a five-year, $5-per-member annual dues increase - $3 of which would be used to fight upcoming ballot measures including pro-voucher plans being considered in Michigan and California. The dues also could be used to press for other NEA policies on state ballots.

Addressing another controversial topic, the union signaled that it would not stand in the way of union locals that pursue bonus pay for teachers or locals that have a bonus pay system imposed upon them. A resolution approved on the matter did not endorse such a plan, but it moved the union closer than it has ever come toward backing merit pay for teachers. Still, the NEA specifically said no compensation package should replace pay based on seniority, nor subject a teacher's pay to the whims of a principal. [ Translation: Teachers should not be held to standards or be paid on well they teach.]

The union also refused to embrace a proposal to base pay on how well students perform on tests. [ Don't tell us how to do our job. We shouldn't be held accountable for poor student acheivement.] The union remains opposed to spending public funds on private school educations for poor children. But in those states, voucher plans are backed by powerful forces, Chase said.

In California, Silicon Valley billionaire Tim Draper is backing a Nov. 7 measure that would permit state money to go to vouchers for private schools. In Michigan, Amway Corp. founder Richard DeVos Sr. and his wife, Helen, have contributed at least $1 million to help pass a proposal to provide about $3,150 of state money per child toward private school tuition. "That's an enormous amount of money," Chase said. [ Perhaps, but not as much as the unions are paying out to fight the vouchers. This doesn't even include PAC money from the National Education Association, and several other groups that are opposed to Vouchers. read on. ]

The dues increase is expected to raise about $10 million per year. Annual dues are now $114 and were already scheduled to increase to $118 per year. The increase, which takes effect this fall, will bring the cost per teacher to $123. The remaining $2 of the increase will pay for state and national media campaigns promoting the value of public education. [Translation: attacking vouchers]

The dues increase comes in the wake of criticism from a conservative legal group, which argues that the NEA reports to the IRS that it spends no union dues on politics but yet spent millions of dollars to help elect "pro-education candidates," produce political training guides and gather teachers' voting records.

Chase said Wednesday the dues plan is legal; no candidates are helped with the money, he said. Edithe Fulton, vice president of the New Jersey Education Association, said funds for political campaigns are raised voluntarily. "We work to the letter of the law," she said. "It's painfully democratic but we do it." [Decide for yourself, but remember their dues come from their paychecks and that money is your tax money. Didn't they say earlier in this very article that $3 out $5 raised would be used to fight ballot initiatives? Which is it? you don't use the due money or you do use the due money? ]

The increase drew little opposition at the annual meeting, where state and local unit members gather to set bargaining policies and handle other business. The meeting ends Thursday with an address by Vice President Al Gore, who was endorsed by the union. The rival American Federation of Teachers, an AFL-CIO affiliate that also endorsed Gore, ends its biennial meeting in Philadelphia today.

Patricia Jackson, a 33-year veteran elementary school teacher from Peoria, Ill., said the union has expanded its support of Republican candidates, noting a keynote speech by Illinois Gov. George Ryan. In other NEA business, a group of teachers is complaining that their pension funds are being invested in companies that spend big bucks pushing vouchers for private schooling. Teachers have no control over where states invest pension money, but the group - which argues for socially responsible investments - plans to press its case Thursday.