Proposed legislation would rein in national teachers’ union
Likely unbeknownst to many (including me, originally) the National Education Association — the largest teachers’ union in the country — has a federal charter that was issued by the U.S. Congress back in 1906. It establishes the union as a corporation under the private, nonprofit corporations category, which includes corporations chartered for their patriotic, civic-improvement, charitable, or educational purposes. Others with this type of charter include the Boy Scouts, the American Red Cross, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Little League Baseball, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, to name a few.
The NEA is the only labor union with a federal charter, and the political behemoth it is today is vastly different from the professional association that received this congressional charter in the 20th century.
It has also greatly strayed from its purpose, as established in its charter:
- to elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching; and
- to promote the cause of education in the United States.
We know that the NEA of today does not have such a noble purpose. The union made it clear during its recent annual Representative Assembly how politically motivated and partisan it is, from passing business items opposing the enforcement of our immigration laws to severing ties with an organization founded to fight antisemitism.
“If this is how the NEA behaves when it’s in control, it has no place running public-school classrooms,” states Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation.
Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (WI) and U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (WY) titled, “Stopping Teachers Unions from Damaging Education Needs Today (STUDENT) Act” reforms the NEA’s federal charter to bring it in line with other federally chartered organizations.
The Freedom Foundation summarizes some of the changes the bill would establish:
- prohibits the NEA from engaging in electoral politics and lobbying, a restriction included in 60 percent of federal charters;
- requires the NEA to submit an annual report to Congress;
- requires the NEA to respect teachers’ First Amendment rights to refrain from union membership;
- ends direct and indirect taxpayer support and subsidies for the NEA and its affiliates;
- prohibits the NEA from incorporating the core tenets of Critical Race Theory into its governance, operations, and advocacy;
- subjects the NEA and its affiliates to the financial transparency requirements and union democracy protections of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act; and,
- bars the NEA and its affiliates from shutting down schools by going on strike.
Why not just repeal the charter?
Given that federal charters “generally confer few practical benefits beyond whatever prestige accompanies such charters,” revoking the NEA’s charter “would not strip the union of its corporate existence or meaningfully require it to alter its operations” because its incorporation “preceded and exists concurrently with its federal charter,” explains Maxford Nelsen, director of research and government affairs at the Freedom Foundation. “Consequently, repealing the NEA’s charter would do little more than signal congressional disapproval of the organization.”
Instead, if Congress amends the NEA’s charter — which it has the right to do — it could limit the teacher union’s ability to engage in political activity and lobbying and return it to its original purpose, as stated in the charter, of “elevat[ing] the character and advanc[ing] the interests of the profession of teaching” and “promot[ing] the cause of education in the United States.”
By adding accountability and transparency provisions commonly found in other federal charters, the NEA’s most objectionable conduct could be curbed, and its excesses could be reined in.
Thank goodness teachers no longer have to financially support the NEA and its agenda in order to keep their job. Liability insurance is available outside of the union through professional education associations for a fraction of the cost of dues and without the politics. Learn more about your options regarding union membership and how to exercise your rights here.