Where did 9.2 million of your education tax dollars go?

Our education tax dollars go to pay teachers and our teachers use those dollars to pay union dues. In 2007 the NEA spent 9.2 million dollars on lobbying.



Hat tip to the Education Intelligence Agency
for the following article which appeared in the Houston Chronicle.



Teachers Union Spent $9.2M Lobbying

© 2008 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The nation's largest teachers union spent $9.2 million in 2007 to lobby on education reform legislation and financial issues.

The National Education Association spent $3.5 million in the second half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 14 by the Senate's public records office.

It lobbied Congress and the Education Department on Social Security, tax and pension matters, health legislation and on a grant program for automated external defibrillators, which are portable electronic devices to help restore a normal heart rhythm, in schools.

The NEA, which has 3.2 million members, also lobbied on the No Child Left Behind Act, which establishes and measures reading and math standards for all students and imposes stricter qualifications on teachers. Schools face sanctions, such as a state or private management takeover, if they don't make progress over a certain time period. The union has been a frequent critic of the law.

The NEA spent $5.7 million during the first six months of 2007 to lobby on largely the same issues.

Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.

Wouldn't that 9.2 million dollars be better spent on school books for our children our vouchers for underprivileged children in failing public schools?

According to the Education Intelligence Agency
the NEA gave $12 Million to Advocacy Groups, to view that list go to Education Intelligence Agency - EIA Exclusive.