National Education Association Calls for Fight Against Income Inequality

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Heartland:

The National Education Association’s (NEA) top union executives have claimed to take a stand against “income inequality” over the past few years.

 

At its 2015 national convention, NEA passed a resolution it says shows the union’s commitment to closing the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

 

The resolution stated, in part, “NEA will advocate to address income inequality and tax fairness in this country at both national and local levels. They will communicate the effects of these areas on our students in our public schools to the Senate and the House at the federal level.”

 

Despite those stated goals, NEA’s top executive made 7.5 times more money than the average teacher he represented.

 

“In short, union leaders are exempting themselves from their own rhetoric,” said Larry Sand, president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network in Los Angeles. “Either they need to take a steep cut in pay or stop complaining about corporate CEO income. Their blatant hypocrisy seems to be a bottomless pit.”

 

Leaders in the 1 Percent

 

CNN estimated in 2011 it took a household income of $389,000 to crack the top 1 percent of income in the United States. Adjusted for inflation, this figure was $409,401 in 2014. Former NEA President Dennis Van Roekel made $429,509 in salary and had a total compensation of $541,632 in 2014 in his final year as NEA president, according to a financial report the union filed with the U.S. Department of Labor.