On Top of the News
Seeking Allies, Teachers’ Unions Court GOP Too
New York Times| 9/25/12
Behind the Headline
The Long Reach of Teachers’ Unions
Education Next| Fall 2010
In this morning’s New York Times, Motoko Rich writes about the growth in donations made by teachers unions to support Republican candidates. Mike Antonucci had an article about the wide range of candidates and groups that teachers unions were supporting in the Fall 2010 issue of Ed Next. He wrote
If you think it’s far-fetched to suggest that a teachers union could play the role of political kingmaker, think again. The largest political campaign spender in America is not a megacorporation, such as Wal-Mart, Microsoft, or ExxonMobil. It isn’t an industry association, like the American Bankers Association or the National Association of Realtors. It’s not even a labor federation, like the AFL-CIO. If you combine the campaign spending of all those entities it does not match the amount spent by the National Education Association, the public-sector labor union that represents some 2.3 million K–12 public school teachers and nearly a million education support workers (bus drivers, custodians, food service employees), retirees, and college student members.
-Education Next
