NEA dollars at work for whom?

This is a long one. But if you like following the money, it is pretty interesting. A friend passed on an analysis of the National Education Association’s financial disclosure report for 2006-7. And you wonder why certain special interests support higher taxes and government largesse to the non-profit sector. As you read this list of advocacy groups who received funding from the NEA, remember that Pioneer takes no money from government sources and therefore can be objective about how to improve government. We don’t take your money via government and that’s why we ask for your support.

The [NEA] nearly tripled its contributions [to advocacy groups] from the previous fiscal year. The expenditures include a host of payments connected with ballot initiatives in both November 2006 and the first eight months of 2007. They range from $2.3 million to Citizens for Education, who campaigned in favor of a school funding initiative in Michigan, down to several smaller grants to groups such as Rainbow/PUSH, FairTest, Amnesty International, Sierra Club and Human Rights Campaign. Here is an alphabetic list of the recipients of NEA’s largesse, with relevant web links:

ACORN – $218,452

American Council on Education – $10,000

American Library Association – $5,000

American Rights at Work – $5,000

Americans United for Change – $350,000

Amnesty International – $7,500

Arizona Minimum Wage Coalition – $28,000

Arizona State University Office for Research & Sponsored Projects Administration – $250,000

Asian American Justice Center – $5,000

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund – $6,000

Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies – $5,000

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – $5,000

Bloggerpower.org – $10,000

Business and Professional Women/USA – $5,000

Campaign for America’s Future – $40,000

CAP Charitable Foundation – $5,000

Celebrate ME – $50,000

Center for Community Change – $25,000

Center for Equity and Biliteracy Education Research – $8,000

Center for Law and Education – $50,000

Center for Policy Alternatives – $10,000

Center for Teaching Quality – $277,485

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – $81,500

Children’s Defense Fund – $10,000

The Citizenship Project – $25,000

Citizens for Education – $2,316,000

Citizens United to Protect Our Public Safety, Schools and Communities – $550,000

Citizens Who Support Maine’s Public Schools – $195,000

Coloradans for Excellent Schools – $792,000

Coloradans for a Fair Minimum Wage – $20,000

Coloradans for Responsible Reform – $50,000

Committee for Education Funding – $18,902

Committee to Protect Our Children’s Legacy – $560,000

Communities for Quality Education – $273,000

Communities United to Strengthen America – $150,000

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. – $40,000

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute – $90,825

Conserving Arizona’s Future – $50,000

Creating Arizona’s Future – $425,000

Democratic GAIN – $10,000

Democratic Leadership Council – $40,150

East Meadow Jewish Center – $5,000

Economic Policy Institute – $150,000

Educational Testing Service – $21,134

Everybody Wins DC – $8,000

FairTest – $35,000

Ford’s Theatre – $10,000

Funniest Celebrity in Washington – $10,000

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation – $6,000

Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network – $130,000

Give Missourians A Raise – $200,000

Give Nevada A Raise – $25,000

Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice – $300,000

Harvard Labor and Worklife Program – $5,000

Harvard University Office for Sponsored Research – $50,000

Healthy Schools Network – $5,000

Human Rights Campaign – $15,000

Invest In Our Kids’ Education – $720,000

James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy – $15,000

Japanese American Citizens League – $5,000

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies – $15,000

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement – $15,000

Latina Initiative – $25,000

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights – $15,000

League of Rural Voters – $15,000

League of United Latin American Citizens – $5,000

Learning First Alliance – $54,240

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund – $15,300

NAACP – $56,500

National Alliance of Black School Educators – $11,000

National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education – $5,500

National Association for Bilingual Education – $5,000

National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans – $5,000

National Association of Hispanic Journalists – $5,000

National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund – $10,000

National Association of Legislative and Political Specialists for Education – $14,021

National Baptist Voice – $15,450

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards – $8,000

National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training – $10,000

National Coalition on Black Civic Participation – $10,000

National Conference of Black Mayors – $10,000

National Conference of State Legislatures – $42,275

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education – $348,585

National Council of La Raza – $14,700

National Hispanic Media Coalition – $5,000

National League of Cities – $40,000

National Partnership for Women and Families – $5,000

National Parent Teachers Association – $5,000

National Public Pension Coalition – $135,000

National Staff Development Council – $70,500

National Urban League – $10,180

National Women’s Law Center – $10,000

Nebraskans Against 423 – $500,000

Nebraskans for the Good Life – $250,000

Not In Montana – $310,000

Ohioans for a Fair Minimum Wage – $680,000

Organizations Concerned About Rural Education – $5,000

Partnership for 21st Century Skills – $55,803

People for the American Way – $275,000

Project New West – $86,000

Rainbow/PUSH Coalition – $10,000

Rebuild America’s Schools – $20,000

Second District Religious, Educational Charitable Development Project – $5,000

SEIU – $15,000

Sierra Club – $50,000

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center – $5,000

Southern Christian Leadership Conference – $12,771

Task Force Foundation – $10,000

Teachers Count – $50,000

U.S. Action – $100,000

U.S. Fund for UNICEF – $7,500

Vote Early Denver – $25,000

Women’s Campaign Forum – $15,000

Women’s Voices Women Vote – $75,000

Workers Independent News Service – $5,000

Working America – $150,000