Atlanta
According to secret-ballot results just released, the National Education Association’s 6,900 delegates approved a $3 dues increase for active members, by a vote of 56 percent to 44 percent.
NEA says the dues increase will be put in a special fund to help support projects by state and local affiliates to improve teaching and learning. The details of the fund are a little sketchy and need fleshing out by the union’s executive committee. (I’ll work on getting more for you.)
The fund was a top priority for NEA President Dennis Van Roekel and other union leaders.
Here’s some background on the increase. NEA had anticipated raising dues by $2, but a decline in teachers’ salaries meant that, under the dues-setting formula, they actually were supposed to decline by $1. So the math behind the $3 isn’t too hard to figure out.
Still, the new funds are not supposed to go toward the union’s general funds. This will clearly be an initiative to watch.