Union Filings Give In-Depth Look at Spending Patterns

Millions go toward gifts, lobbying, and other politicking.

The two national teachers’ unions have provided the most detailed public accounting to date of their spending, as a result of new federal requirements.

Both the nation’s largest union, the National Education Association, and the smaller American Federation of Teachers were required last year to submit financial reports to the U.S. Department of Labor that call for a new level of detail on such matters as political spending, contributions and grants, management, and overhead. The NEA turned in its 335-page report last month; the AFT’s shorter document was filed in September.

Both open vistas onto organizations with well-paid workers and substantial political activity, though the NEA spends proportionally more on donations to nonunion organizations with political purposes than the AFT. According to the forms, which cover the 2004-05 fiscal year, the AFT spent $54 million, or nearly a quarter of its total outlay, on “representational activities,” including bargaining contracts, resolving grievances, organizing locals, and recruiting members, while the NEA spent $53.7 million, slightly more than a sixth of its...