The 'E' is for Evasion

Joanne Jacobs mentions that the National Education Association is being audited by the IRS

The IRS is auditing the nation's largest teachers union, scrutinizing an organization that works energetically to elect candidates but files tax returns reporting zero political expenditures from member dues.

while at the same time

the union budgeted $4.9 million for the 2000 election for such things as "organizational partnerships with political parties, campaign committees and political organizations."

The main thrust of the NEA's political activity is to block meaningful education reforms, to maintain tenure rights for incompetent teachers and to obstruct parental choice. If Pete Rose, Leona Helmsley and Chuck Berry could go to jail for tax evasion, so too should these people.

The Associated Press slipped-up on this line:

The records showed the 2.7 million-member union spent millions of dollars to help elect pro-education candidates, produce political training guides and gather teachers' voting records.

It doesn't seem appropriate to label a politician who conspires with the NEA to leave millions of children languishing in failing schools as "pro-education".

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 25, 2003 09:14 PM