NEA Dips Into New Fund To Aid Campaigns

By Jeff Archer

A special $5-per-member fee increase approved by the National Education Association this summer is now pumping millions of fresh dollars into battles over tax measures and voucher proposals across the country.

Union leaders earlier this month approved the release of nearly $1.4 million from the NEA's new Ballot Measure/Legislative-Crisis Fund to finance campaigns dealing with ballot initiatives in five states. And late last week, the organization's 159-member board of directors was slated to consider allocating $6.2 million more from the fund to help sway voters in California and Michigan.

Although the NEA has long been a major political player, union officials say that such spending levels would not have been possible if they hadn't increased the fees charged to members. In recent years, the cost of underwriting a growing number of state initiative campaigns has strained the union's...