National Education Association - Definition and Overview

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest union of teachers in the United States. It has 2.7 million members who teach every level of education from nursery school to University level. It is headquartered in Washington DC, and has an annual operating budget of around $150 million. Reg Weaver is the current president. Traditionally a professional organization, it is not a member of the AFL-CIO, unlike its smaller rival the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

History

The NEA was founded by Robert Campbell as the National Teachers Association in 1850, and changed to its present name in 1857. It was chartered by Congress in 1906.

In 1998, a proposed merger with AFT failed when that union's annual meeting rejected it. The two organizations supposedly continue to cooperate through the "NEAFT Partnership."

Rod Paige incident

On February 23, 2004, United States Secretary of Education Rod Paige called the NEA a "terrorist organization". Paige, who had been at a loggerheads with the organization over the No Child Left Behind Act, later claimed he was joking. Shortly thereafter, the NEA called for Paige's resignation.

External Links

• Official NEA website (http://www.nea.org/)
  • The History of the NEA (http://www.nea.org/neatimeline.html)
• infoplease article (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0834941.html)
• Petition to fire Paige over the terrorist remark (http://www.firepaige.org/)