Editing National Education Association

{{short description|US teachers' trade union}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox union
| name                     = National Education Association
| logo                     = National Education Association logo.svg
| location_country         = United States
| affiliation              = [[Education International]]
| members                  = 2,839,808 (2024)<ref name=membership>{{cite news |last1=Wagner |first1=Lauren |title=NEA Membership Continued to Drop in 2024 as Revenue from Dues Hit $381 Million |url=https://www.the74million.org/article/nea-membership-continued-to-drop-in-2024-as-revenue-from-dues-hit-381-million/ |access-date=26 March 2025 |publisher=The 74 |date=15 January 2025}}</ref>
| image                    = 
| founded                  = {{Start date and age|1857}}
| headquarters             = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| key_people               = [[Rebecca S. Pringle|Becky Pringle]], president
| website                  = {{URL|https://www.nea.org|nea.org}}
| abbreviation             = NEA
| dissolved                = 
| tax_id                   = 53-0115260
| type                     = [[501(c)(5)]]
}}
{{Education in the U.S.}}
[[File:General meeting, National Education Association on July 3, 1916 at Madison Square Garden, New York City. Expected to be the largest gathering of American teachers ever held - N.E.A. LCCN2014702187 (cropped).tif|thumb|262x262px|General meeting, National Education Association on July 3, 1916, at Madison Square Garden, New York City]]
The '''National Education Association''' ('''NEA''') is the largest [[Trade union|labor union]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Layton|first1=Lyndsey|title=Nation's largest labor union: We want 2016 hopefuls talking about schools|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/nations-largest-labor-union-we-want-2016-hopefuls-talking-about-schools/2015/03/25/2715929e-d301-11e4-ab77-9646eea6a4c7_story.html|access-date=September 23, 2015|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=March 25, 2014}}</ref> It represents [[State school|public school]] [[teacher]]s and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at [[college]]s and [[University|universities]], retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has 2.8 million members and is headquartered in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="OLMS_LM-2_2014-09-26">{{Cite OLMS|filenum=000-342|rptId=573161|rptForm=LM2Form|date=September 26, 2014}}</ref> The NEA had a budget of $399 million in 2023 along with an endowment of $428 million.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Education Association Of The United States - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530115260 |website=ProPublica |access-date=26 March 2025 |language=en |date=9 May 2013}}</ref> [[Rebecca S. Pringle|Becky Pringle]] is the NEA's current president.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2020/08/07/New-NEA-teachers-union-president-becky-pringle-Pitt-Penn-State-grad/stories/202008070104|title=New president of national teachers union a Pitt, Penn State grad|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=February 27, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Grunwald|first1=Michael|title=Arne Duncan's Wars|url=http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/09/arne-duncan-education-profile-000231|access-date=September 23, 2015|work=Politico|date=September 23, 2015}}</ref>

During the early 20th century, the National Education Association was among the leading [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] advocates of establishing a [[United States Department of Education]].<ref name=slawson>Slawson, Douglas J. (2005). [https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268041106/department-of-education-battle-1918-1932/ Department of Education Battle, 1918-1932 Public Schools, Catholic Schools, and the Social Order].</ref>

Driven by pressure from teacher organizing, by the 1970s the NEA transformed from an education advocacy organization to a rank-and-file union. In the decades since, the association has continued to represent organized teachers and other school workers in collective bargaining and to lobby for progressive education policy.<ref name="Murphy">Marjorie Murphy, ''Blackboard Unions: the AFT and the NEA: 1900–1980'' (1992)</ref> The NEA's political agenda frequently brings it into conflict with conservative interest groups.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shelton |first=Jon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FauzDgAAQBAJ |title=Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2017 |isbn= 978-0-252-09937-3|location=Champaign |page=}}</ref> State affiliates of the NEA regularly lobby state legislators for [[funding]], seek to influence education policy, and file legal actions.

At the national level, the NEA lobbies the [[United States Congress]] and [[List of federal agencies in the United States|federal agencies]] and is active in the nominating process for Democratic candidates.<ref name="burkins">{{cite news|last1=Burkins|first1=Glenn|last2=Simpson|first2=Glenn|author-link2=Glenn R. Simpson|title=Teachers' Unions Will Show Political Clout at Convention|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB840754703233539500|access-date=September 23, 2015|publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=August 23, 1996}}</ref> The NEA is a major supporter of the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Camera |first1=Lauren |title=National Education Association PAC Raised Roughly $27 Million for 2024 Election |url=https://www.the74million.org/article/national-education-association-pac-raised-roughly-27-million-for-2024-election/ |access-date=26 March 2025 |publisher=The 74 |date=28 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Will |first1=Madeline |title=Here's How the Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Is Spending Its Money |url=https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/heres-how-the-nations-largest-teachers-union-is-spending-its-money/2023/07 |access-date=26 March 2025 |work=Education Week |date=10 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
===Founding===
The NEA was founded in [[Philadelphia]] in 1857 as the National Teachers Association (NTA).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cardinal|first1=Denise|title=National Education Association|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/National_Education_Association.aspx|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref> [[Zalmon Richards]] was elected the NTA's first president and presided over the organization's first annual meeting in 1858.<ref name=provenzo>{{cite book|last1=Provenzo|first1=Eugene Jr.|title=Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education|date=2008|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=9781452265971|pages=534}}</ref> At the beginning and for its first century of history, it had the character of a [[professional association]] rather than a labor union.<ref name="Murphy" /> The NTA became the National Education Association (NEA) in 1870 when it merged with the American Normal School Association, the National Association of School Superintendents, and the Central College Association.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Levinson|first1=David|last2=Cookson|first2=Peter|last3=Sadovnik|first3=Alan|title=Education and Sociology: An Encyclopedia|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135570859|page=665}}</ref> The union was [[Congressional charter|chartered]] by [[United States Congress|Congress]] in 1906.<ref name=provenzo /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://legisworks.org/congress/59/session-1/publaw-398.pdf |title=National Education Association Act of 1906 ~ P.L. 59-398 |date=June 30, 1906 |series=34 Stat. 804 ~ House Bill 10501 |publisher=Legis★Works |access-date=November 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220094634/http://legisworks.org/congress/59/session-1/publaw-398.pdf |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

The NEA was never on good terms with the [[New Deal]]. Its main goal was for Congress to pass a multipurpose public finance bill that would supplement local property taxes in funding public schools. Some relief money was used to build schools, but the New Deal avoided channeling any of it through the Office of Education. Legislation never succeeded, because it would condone segregated schools in the South and because President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] rejected any across-the-board program. He believed that federal money should only go to the poorest schools, and none to rich states.<ref name="Murphy" /> The New Deal set up its own separate educational program through the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] and other relief agencies.<ref name="Harvard University Press" />

===From association to labor union===
For most of the 20th century, the NEA was dominated by the public school administration in small towns and rural areas. The state organizations played a major role in policy formation for the NEA.<ref name="Urban">Wayne J. Urban, "The Making of a Teachers’ Union: The National Education Association, 1957–‐1972". ''Historical Studies in Education'' 5 (1993): 33–53.</ref> Only a small portion of American public school teachers were unionized before the 1960s. That began to change in 1959, when [[Wisconsin]] became the first state to pass a [[collective bargaining]] law for public employees. Over the next 20 years, most other states adopted similar laws.<ref name="Lyons">{{cite book|author=John F. Lyons|editor=Eric Arnesen|chapter=American Federation of Teachers|title=Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-class History|publisher=Routledge|volume=1|year=2007|page=89}}</ref>

The NEA merged with the [[American Teachers Association]], the historically Black teachers association founded as the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, in 1966.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cameron|first1=Don|title=The Inside Story of the Teacher Revolution in America|date=2005|publisher=R&L Education|isbn=9781578861965|page=[https://archive.org/details/insidestoryoftea0000came/page/70 70]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/insidestoryoftea0000came/page/70}}</ref> The NEA's merger with the ATA, its transformation into a true labor union, and other factors were to greatly change the organization's demographics.<ref>Gender, Race, and the National Education Association: Professionalism and Its Limitations. By Wayne J. Urban. New York: Routledge, 2000.</ref> In 1967, the NEA elected its first Hispanic president, [[Braulio Alonso]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rousmaniere|first1=Kate|title=Principal's Office, The: A Social History of the American School Principal|date=2013|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9781438448251|page=106}}</ref> In 1968, NEA elected its first black president, [[Elizabeth Duncan Koontz]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Saxon|first=Wolfgang|title=Elizabeth Koontz, 69, Dies; Led Teachers' Union|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/08/us/elizabeth-koontz-69-dies-led-teachers-union.html|access-date=October 18, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 8, 1989}}</ref>

After 1957, the NEA began a process that would transform it into an organization representing the teachers in its districts, rather than just the administrators. It came to resemble the rival [[American Federation of Teachers]] (AFT), which was a labor union for teachers in larger cities. The success of the AFT in raising wages through strike activity encouraged the NEA to undertake similar activities.<ref name="Urban" /> The years between 1957 and 1973 saw a gradual shift in power to the association's classroom teachers, a tentative embrace of collective bargaining and teacher strikes, and the creation of a [[political action committee]]. These changes culminated in a new constitution adopted in 1973. The constitution expelled school administrators entirely and made structural changes to allow the NEA to operate as a labor union.<ref name="Urban" />

In the 1970s, more militant politics came to characterize the NEA. Its political action committee engaged in local election campaigns, and the union began endorsing political candidates who supported its policy goals. State NEA branches became less important as the national and local levels began direct and unmediated relationships. The NEA's elected leadership often supported teachers in opposition to school administrators.<ref name="Urban" />

===Relations with the American Federation of Teachers===
In 1998, a tentative merger agreement was reached between NEA and [[American Federation of Teachers]] (AFT) negotiators, but [[ratification]] failed soundly in the NEA's Representative Assembly meeting in [[New Orleans]] in early July 1998.<ref>Wayne J. Urban, "Teacher Politics", In ''Teacher Unions and Education Policy: Retrenchment or Reform?'' (eds. Ronald D. Henderson, Wayne J. Urban, and Paul Wolman), Emerald Group, 2004. pp. 113–116.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> However, five NEA state affiliates have since merged with their AFT counterparts. Mergers occurred in [[Florida]] (the [[Florida Education Association]] formed in 2000); [[Minnesota]] ([[Education Minnesota]] formed in 1998), [[Montana]] ([[MEA-MFT]] formed in 2000), [[New York (state)|New York]] ([[New York State United Teachers]] formed in 2006) and [[North Dakota]] ([[North Dakota United]] formed in 2013).<ref>{{Cite web|title=North Dakota United, Bismarck, ND (2021)|url=https://www.govserv.org/US/Bismarck/125100301010794/North-Dakota-United|access-date=January 28, 2021|website=www.govserv.org|language=en}}</ref>

In 2006, the NEA and the [[AFL–CIO]] also announced that, for the first time, stand-alone NEA locals as well as those that had merged with the AFT would be allowed to join state and local labor federations affiliated with the AFL-CIO.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://washingtontimes.com/business/20060214-084613-4307r.htm |title=Teachers local allowed to join AFL-CIO |work=Washington Times |date=February 14, 2006 |access-date=March 31, 2011}}</ref>

===2024 NEASO lockout===

The National Education Association Staff Organization (NEASO) is the staff union representing employees who work for the NEA. In July 2024, NEASO staff members went on a three-day strike protesting what it charged were NEA's unfair labor practices. This resulted in the halting of the National Education Association's (NEA) annual representative assembly in Philadelphia. The event, which was scheduled to run for four days over the Fourth of July weekend, brings together thousands of educators to vote on the union's priorities, budget, and strategic plan. President Joe Biden, who was expected to address the delegates, canceled his appearance, citing his refusal to cross the picket line.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schultz |first1=Brooke |title=NEA's Staff Union Is on Strike—Halting NEA's Biggest Annual Gathering |url=https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/neas-staff-union-is-on-strike-halting-neas-biggest-annual-gathering/2024/07 |website=Education Week |access-date=9 July 2024 |language=en |date=5 July 2024}}</ref>

Following the strike, the NEA locked out nearly 300 staff members working at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. These staff members were not paid or allowed to work until August 15, 2024, when NEA and NEASO reached agreement on a new contract.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schultz |first1=Brooke |title=Staff Who Disrupted NEA's Assembly Will Be Locked Out of Work |url=https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/staff-who-disrupted-neas-assembly-will-be-locked-out-of-work/2024/07 |website=Education Week |access-date=9 July 2024 |language=en |date=8 July 2024}}</ref>

==Composition==
According to NEA's Department of Labor records since 2005, when membership classifications were first reported, the majority of the union's membership are "active professional" members, having fallen only slightly from 74% to the current 71%. The second largest category have been "active education support professional" members, with about 15%. The third largest category are "retired" members, which have grown from 8% to 10%. Two other categories, "active life" and "student" members, have both remained with around 2%, falling slightly. These categories are eligible to vote in the union, though the union lists some comparatively marginal categories which are not eligible to vote: "staff", "substitute" and "reserve" members, each with less than 1% of the union's membership. NEA contracts also cover some non-members, known as [[Agency shop|agency fee]] payers, which since 2006 have numbered comparatively about 3% of the size of the union's membership.<ref name="OLMS" /><ref name="OLMS_attachment_2012-11-29">{{Cite OLMS|filenum=000-342|rptId=4931|rptForm=attachment|date=November 29, 2012}}</ref>

As of 2014 these categories account for about: 2.1 million "active professionals", 457,000 "active education support professionals", 300,000 "retirees", 52,000 "students", 42,000 "active life" members, and just under nine thousand others, plus about 90,000 non-members paying agency fees.<ref name="OLMS_LM-2_2014-09-26" />

===Membership trends===
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----
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The NEA reported a membership of 766,000 in 1961.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Peterson|first1=Paul|title=Choice and Competition in American Education|date=2006|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780742545816|page=124}}</ref> In 2007, at the 150th anniversary of its founding, NEA membership had grown to 3.2 million.<ref name="OLMS_LM-2_2007-11-26">{{Cite OLMS|filenum=000-342|rptId=337843|rptForm=LM2Form|date=November 26, 2007}}</ref> However, by July 2012, ''USA Today'' reported that NEA had lost nearly 0.3% of their members each year since 2010.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-06-28/Teacher-unions-education/55993750/1 |title = USA's top teachers union losing members |author = Greg Toppo |date = July 3, 2012 |newspaper = USA Today |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref>

Following the Supreme Court's 2018 ''[[Janus v. AFSCME]]'' case, which ended the compulsion of non-union, public employees to pay agency fees, or what are colloquially known as 'fair-share fees,' the NEA's total membership and agency fee payers dropped from 3,074,841 on its November 28, 2017, report<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mackinac.org/media/images/2019/NEA_LM2_2017.pdf |title=Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report 2017; Schedule 13 |publisher=US Department of Labor |date=April 17, 2019 |access-date=July 25, 2020}}</ref> to 2,975,933 in its August 31, 2019, report,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.freetoteach.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NEA-2019-LM2.pdf |title=Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report 2019; Schedule 13 |publisher=US Department of Labor |date=August 31, 2019 |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726034409/https://www.freetoteach.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NEA-2019-LM2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> a total loss of 98,908 dues payers.

==Structure and governance==
The NEA has a membership of just under 3 million people, with membership levels dropping every year since 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sawchuk|first1=Stephen|title=Understanding NEA's Current Membership Numbers|url=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2013/07/understanding_neas_current_mem.html|access-date=September 22, 2015|publisher=Education Week|date=July 4, 2013}}</ref> The NEA is incorporated as a [[professional association]] in a few states and as a [[Trade union]] in most. The group holds a [[congressional charter]] under [[Title 36 of the United States Code]]. It is not a member of the [[AFL–CIO]], but is part of [[Education International]], the global federation of teachers' unions.<ref>{{Cite web|last=International|first=Education|date=|title=Members|url=https://www.ei-ie.org/en/members#NEAUS|access-date=January 26, 2021|website=Education International|language=en}}</ref>

NEA members set the union's policies through the Representative Assembly (RA). The RA, which is a delegation comprising elected representatives from each local and state affiliate, coalitions of student members and retired members, and other segments of the united education profession—is the primary legislative and policy-making body of the NEA. RA delegates elect the union's executive officers and members of the Executive Committee.<ref name=autogenerated1>NEA (2007) p15</ref>

{{As of|2024}}, the executive officers of the NEA are [[Rebecca S. Pringle|Rebecca Pringle]] (President), [[Princess Moss]] (Vice President), [[Noel Candelaria]] (Secretary-Treasurer) and [[Kim A. Anderson]] (Executive Director). These posts are elected by the Representative Assembly.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref>[http://educationnext.org/teacher-year-union-president "Teacher of the Year to Union President"], ''Education Next'' (Summer 2014)</ref><ref name="Our Leaders">{{cite web |url=https://www.nea.org/our-leaders |title=Our Leaders |date=2024 |website=nea.org |publisher=National Education Association |accessdate=25 June 2024 }}</ref>

The [[board of directors]] and executive committee are responsible for the general policies and interests of the NEA. The board of directors consists of one director from each state affiliate (plus an additional director for every 20,000 active members in the state), six directors for the retired members, and three directors for the student members. The board also includes at-large representatives of ethnic minorities, administrators, classroom teachers in higher education, and active members employed in educational support positions.<ref>NEA (2007) pp. 15–16</ref> The Executive Committee consists of the President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer plus six members elected at large by delegates to the Representative Assembly. It acts for the board of directors when it is not in session.<ref name="Our Leaders" />

==Funding==
Most NEA funding comes from dues paid by its members ($295 million in dues from a $341 million total budget in 2005).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Weyrich|first1=Paul|title=Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao – A Lady of Achievement|url=http://townhall.com/columnists/paulweyrich/2006/04/12/secretary_of_labor_elaine_chao_%E2%80%93_a_lady_of_achievement|access-date=December 3, 2015|publisher=Townhall|date=April 12, 2006}}</ref> Typically, local chapters negotiate a contract with automatic deduction of dues from members' paychecks. Part of the dues remain with the local affiliate (the district association), a portion goes to the state association, and a portion is given to the national association. The NEA returned 39 percent of dues money back to state affiliates in 2021 and 2022.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sawchuk|first1=Stephen|title=Big Membership Losses for NEA|url=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2012/07/big_membership_losses_for.html|access-date=December 3, 2015|publisher=Education Week|date=July 1, 2012}}</ref>

Federal law prohibits unions from using dues money or other assets to contribute to or otherwise assist federal candidates or political parties, in accordance with their tax-exempt status. The NEA Fund for Children and Public Education is a special fund for voluntary contributions from NEA members which can legally be used to assist candidates and political parties. Critics have repeatedly questioned the NEA's actual compliance with such laws, and a number of legal actions focusing on the union's use of money and union personnel in partisan contexts have ensued.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.landmarklegal.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=161 |title=Landmark Legal Foundation |publisher=Landmarklegal.org |access-date=March 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409083632/http://www.landmarklegal.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=161 |archive-date=April 9, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Read Across America Day==
[[File:Hrcraad.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Hillary Clinton reads a book to an African-American grade-schooler in Maryland during Read Across America Day in 1998|[[Hillary Clinton]] participates in [[Read Across America Day]] in Maryland, 1998.]]
National Read Across America Day is an NEA initiative to encourage reading. It has expanded into a year-long program with special celebrations in March as National Reading Month. Read Across America Day began in 1998, on March 2 which was the birthday of the popular children's author, [[Dr. Seuss]]. The NEA partnered with Dr. Seuss Enterprises on the venture from 1997 to 2018, when the contract ended.<ref>{{cite web | last=Aspegren | first=Elinor | title='Read Across America Day,' once synonymous with Dr. Seuss, is diversifying. Here's why things have changed. | website=USA TODAY | date=March 2, 2021 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/03/01/read-across-america-day-dr-seuss-diversity-racism/6878454002/ | access-date=March 2, 2021}}</ref> Since 2017, NEA's Read Across America focuses on the importance, value, and fun of reading and sharing diverse books and "celebrating a nation of diverse readers".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Tiara |last2=Yarmosky |first2=Jessica |date=February 26, 2019 |title=Dr. Seuss Books Can Be Racist, But Students Keep Reading Them |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/02/26/695966537/classic-books-are-full-of-problems-why-cant-we-put-them-down |access-date=August 20, 2022}}</ref>
{{clear}}

==Political activities==
[[File:National Education Association headquarters - Washington, D.C.jpg|thumb|The National Education Association headquarters located at 1201 16th Street near the [[White House]]]]
NEA has played a role in politics since its founding, as it has sought to influence state and federal laws that would affect public education. The extent to which the NEA and its state and local affiliates engage in political activities, especially during election cycles, has been a source of controversy.<ref name="burkins"/> The organization tracks legislation related to education and the teaching profession and encourages members to get involved in politics.<ref>Wayne J. Urban, "Foreshadowing the Seventies: Teacher Militancy and the NEA, 1900 – 1922", ''California Journal of Teacher Education'' (1978) 5#1 pp. 55–82 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23472857 in JSTOR]</ref>

* 1910–1915: Women played increasing leadership roles in NEA.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kate Rousmaniere|title=Citizen Teacher: The Life and Leadership of Margaret Haley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HsdP0EIohHYC&pg=PA179|year=2005|publisher=SUNY Press|page=179|isbn=9780791464885}}</ref>
* 1912: The NEA endorsed [[women's suffrage in the United States]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Kate Rousmaniere|title=Citizen Teacher: The Life and Leadership of Margaret Haley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HsdP0EIohHYC&pg=PA179|year=2005|page=179|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9780791464885}}</ref>
*1918: The report "Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education" emphasized the education of students in terms of health, a command of fundamental processes, worthy home membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character. They emphasized life adjustment and reflected the social efficiency model of [[progressive education]].<ref>Karen Graves, "The Cardinal Principles",, ''American Educational History Journal'' (2010) 37#1–2, pp 95–107</ref>
* 1918: The NEA Commission on the Emergency in Education, with George Strayer as chairman, warned that the evidence from the wartime draft showed millions of potential soldiers were illiterate or poorly educated, and often in bad health. The NEA study said the cause was very low quality rural schools in the South, badly trained teachers, and inequitable financing. It called for $100 million of federal aid to remedy the deficiencies, but none was forthcoming.  Many states, however, started setting minimal standards for rural schools.<ref name="Harvard University Press">{{cite book|author1=David B. Tyack |author2=Robert Lowe |author3=Elisabeth Hansot  |name-list-style=amp |title=Public Schools in Hard Times: The Great Depression and Recent Years|url=https://archive.org/details/publicschoolsinh0000tyac|url-access=registration |year=1984|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/publicschoolsinh0000tyac/page/98 98]}}</ref>
* 1920: The "Preliminary Report on the Tenure of Teachers" cautiously recommended that school boards adopt a policy of [[academic tenure]].<ref>Timothy Reese Cain, "The NEA's Early Conflict over Educational Freedom", ''American Educational History Journal'' (2009) 36#1 pp 361–375</ref>
* 1923: The NEA began to promote state pension plans for teachers; by 1950, every state had a pension plan in effect.<ref>{{cite book|author=Suzanne Saunders Taylor|title=Public Employee Retirement Systems: The Structure and Politics of Teacher Pensions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VyvzxY1DYRcC&pg=PA1|year=1986|publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=1–2|isbn=0875461247}}</ref>
* 1923–1928:  Hunter's "Committee of One Hundred on the Problem of Tenure" stressed the  advantages of tenure for society. In 1925, it argued that tenure "protects the great body of good teachers from political attack and from dismissal for petty personal and political reasons", but also argued that administrators should maintain control over dismissal decisions.<ref>Cain, "The NEA's Early Conflict over Educational Freedom", (2009)</ref>
* 1920s: The main NEA goals during this period were to raise teacher salaries, raise standards, and to gain a cabinet-level U.S. Secretary of Education. Success on the cabinet issue came only in 1979.<ref>Marjorie Murphy, ''Blackboard Unions: The AFT and the NEA, 1900–1980'' (1991) pp 132, 140.</ref>
* 1930s: The NEA lobbied, mostly unsuccessfully, for Congress to pass a multipurpose public finance bill that would supplement local property taxes in funding public schools. Some relief money was used to build schools, but the New Deal avoided channeling any of it through the Office of Education. Legislation never succeeded, because it would condone segregated schools in the South and because Roosevelt rejected any across-the-board program. He believed that federal money should only go to the poorest schools, and none to rich states.<ref>Murphy, ''Blackboard Unions'' (1991) pp 132–36, 142–49.</ref> The New Deal set up its own separate educational program through the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] and other relief agencies.<ref name="Harvard University Press" />
* 1940s: The NEA successfully lobbied Congress for special funding for public schools near military bases.<ref>{{cite book|title=The World Book Encyclopedia Annual Supplement: 1951|year=1950|pages=130–36}}</ref>
* 1944: The NEA lobbied for the [[G.I. Bill]], a law that provided a range of benefits for returning [[World War II]] veterans.<ref>Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin, ''The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans'' (2009) pp 54, 66</ref>
* 1958: The NEA helped gain passage of the [[National Defense Education Act]].<ref>Christine Maitland, "NEA Higher Education: 150 Years and Growing". Thought & Action (Fall 2007): 71–82; at p 75.</ref>
* 1964: The NEA lobbied to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Docherty|first1=James C.|last2=van der Velden|first2=Sjaak|title=Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor|date=June 14, 2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=190|isbn=9780810861961}}</ref>
* 1965: The NEA worked with Catholic school leaders to pass the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for federal aid to schools.<ref>Harvey Kantor, "Education, social reform, and the state: ESEA and federal education policy in the 1960s". ''American Journal of Education'' (1991): 47–83.</ref><ref>Mitchell B. Lerner, ed., ''A Companion to Lyndon B. Johnson'' (2012) pp 264–65</ref>
* 1968: After years of feuding, the AFT suggested a merger with the NEA. The NEA refuses.<ref>Marjorie Murphy, ''Blackboard Unions: The AFT and the NEA, 1900–1980'' (1991) pp 252–53</ref>
* 1968: The NEA lobbied for passage of the [[Bilingual Education Act]], with federal funding for Spanish-language education in public schools.<ref>Maritza De La Trinidad,  "Mexican Americans and the push for culturally relevant education: the bilingual education movement in Tucson, 1958–1969". ''History of Education'' 44#3 (2015): 316–338.</ref>
* 1968-68: There was a wave of school strikes outside South, 80% by the NEA.<ref>Maitland, "NEA Higher Education: 150 Years and Growing". p 76.</ref>
* 1969: 450,000 teachers were covered by 1,019 collective bargaining agreements. The NEA accounted for 90 percent of the contracts and 61 percent of the teachers.<ref>Maitland, "NEA Higher Education: 150 Years and Growing". p 76</ref>
* 1972: The New York State Teachers Association quit the NEA and merged with the AFT.<ref>Murphy, ''Blackboard Unions''  (1991) pp 253–54.</ref>
* 1970s: State affiliates become powerful lobbyists.<ref name="Murphy, 1991 p 267">Murphy, ''Blackboard Unions''  (1991) p 267.</ref>
* 1976: 265 NEA delegates attended the [[Democratic National Convention]]; the NEA endorsed Democrat [[Jimmy Carter]] for president. He won and secured the creation of the Department of Education in 1979.<ref name="Murphy, 1991 p 267" />
* 1980: 464 NEA delegates attended the Democratic National Convention.<ref name="Murphy, 1991 p 267" />
* 1984: The NEA lobbied for passage of a federal retirement equity law to provide the means to end sex discrimination against women in retirement funds.<ref>Jay L. Chronister, "Benefits and Retirement in a Decade of Change", ''The NEA 1999 Almanac of Higher Education'' (1999) pp: 93–110.</ref>
* 2000: The NEA began to lobby for changes to the [[No Child Left Behind Act]].
* 2009: NEA delegates to the Representative Assembly passed a resolution opposing discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/grants/33354.htm |title=New Business Items |publisher=NEA |date=June 26, 2009 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202080717/http://www.nea.org/grants/33354.htm |archive-date=December 2, 2012 }}</ref>
* 2013: the NEA wrote an open letter to the [[United States House of Representatives]] opposing the [[Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014]] (H.J.Res 59; 113th Congress).<ref name=neaNo1>{{cite web|last=Kusler|first=Mary|title=Letter to the House Opposing the Continuing Resolution H. J. Res. 59|url=http://www.nea.org/home/56740.htm|publisher=National Education Association|access-date=September 23, 2013|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220424/http://www.nea.org/home/56740.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The NEA urged representatives to vote no because the bill "continues the devastating cuts to education set in motion by the sequester and permanently defunds the Affordable Care Act."<ref name="neaNo1" /> 
*2020: Together with the American Federation of Teachers, NEA issued a report expressing opposition to [[active shooter training|active shooter drills]] being held in schools, calling on the drills to be revised or eliminated.<ref name="wcpo">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/national/teachers-unions-express-opposition-to-active-shooter-drills|title=Teachers unions express opposition to active shooter drills|date=February 12, 2020|website=WCPO|accessdate=February 27, 2021}}</ref>

===Other policy positions===
The NEA has taken positions on policy issues including:
* Reforming the [[No Child Left Behind Act]] to reduce the focus on standardized testing<ref>{{cite news|last1=Layton|first1=Lyndsey|title=NEA: No Child Left Behind rewrite doesn't level the playing field|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/nea-no-child-left-behind-rewrite-doesnt-level-the-playing-field/2015/04/10/ad747902-dfc4-11e4-a1b8-2ed88bc190d2_story.html|access-date=September 22, 2015|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 11, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Emma|title=Nation's largest teachers union launches ad campaign as Congress debates No Child Left Behind|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/06/nations-largest-teachers-union-launches-ad-campaign-as-congress-debates-no-child-left-behind/|access-date=September 22, 2015|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 6, 2015}}</ref>
* Increasing education funding<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/home/36580.htm |title=TEF |publisher=NEA |date=October 21, 2009 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014152946/http://www.nea.org/home/36580.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* A minimum $40,000 starting annual salary for all teachers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nea.org/home/ProfessionalPay.html |title=Professional Pay |publisher=NEA |date=August 18, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2012}}</ref>
* Mandate high school graduation or equivalency as compulsory for everyone below the age of 21<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/home/18106.htm |title=NEA's 12-Point Action Plan for Reducing the School Dropout Rate |publisher=NEA |date=November 7, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-date=February 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209043258/http://www.nea.org/home/18106.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Lowering the [[Achievement gap in the United States|achievement gap]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/home/AchievementGaps.html |title=Achievement Gaps |publisher=NEA |date=August 18, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-date=September 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919182431/http://www.nea.org/home/AchievementGaps.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Reforming Social Security Offsets (GPO/WEP)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/home/16494.htm |title=Our Position & Actions |publisher=NEA |date=October 31, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729122836/http://www.nea.org/home/16494.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Discouraging [[school voucher]]s and all forms of competition with public schools<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nea.org/home/16378.htm |title=Vouchers |publisher=NEA |date=October 30, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2012}}</ref>
* Reforming laws governing charter schools<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.org/home/16332.htm |title=Charter Schools |publisher=NEA |date=October 30, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818114046/http://www.nea.org/home/16332.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The NEA is a member of the [[U.S. Global Leadership Coalition]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usglc.org/about-us/coalition-members/|title=Coalition Members|website=USGLC|access-date=February 27, 2021}}</ref>

===Electoral politics===
In recent decades the NEA has increased its visibility in party politics, contributing funds and other assistance to political campaigns. Like other American labor unions, the NEA has favored the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], giving its endorsement and support to every Democratic nominee for President since [[Jimmy Carter]]. It has never endorsed any [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] or third party candidate for the presidency.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-05-nea-kerry_x.htm|work=[[USA Today]]|title=NEA endorses Kerry for president|date=July 6, 2004}}</ref>

Based on required filings with the federal government, it is estimated that between 1990 and 2002, eighty percent of the NEA's substantial political contributions went to Democratic Party candidates. Ninety-five percent of contributions went to Democrats in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/national-education-assn/recipients?cycle=2012&id=D000000064 |title=National Education Assn Profile: Recipients| publisher=[[OpenSecrets]]}}</ref> the NEA maintains that it bases support for candidates primarily on the organization's interpretation of candidates' support for public education and educators. Every presidential candidate endorsed by the NEA must be recommended by the NEA's PAC Council (composed of representatives from every state and caucus) and approved by the Board of Directors by a 58 percent majority.<ref>see [http://www.educationminnesota.org/advocacy/election-2016/Federal-endorsements  "Federal endorsements" ''Education Minnesota'' (2015)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927071721/http://www.educationminnesota.org/advocacy/election-2016/Federal-endorsements |date=September 27, 2015 }}</ref> In October 2015, the NEA endorsed [[Hillary Clinton]]'s [[Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential bid]]. Clinton accepted the endorsement in person.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Scott|first1=Eugene|title=Top teachers union endorses Hillary Clinton|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/03/politics/hillary-clinton-nea-endorsement/|access-date=October 6, 2015|publisher=CNN|date=October 3, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Haberman|first1=Maggie|title=Hillary Clinton Gets Backing of National Education Association|url=https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/10/03/hillary-clinton-gets-backing-of-national-education-association/?_r=0|access-date=October 6, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 3, 2015}}</ref>

==Criticism==
Some critics have alleged the NEA puts the interests of teachers ahead of students.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moe |first1=Terry |title=A Union by Any Other Name |url=https://www.educationnext.org/a-union-by-any-other-name/ |access-date=May 17, 2022 |journal=Education Next |volume=1 |issue=3 |date=July 19, 2006}} <!-- publisher=Hoover Institution |url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3384186.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312061721/http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3384186.html --></ref> The NEA has often opposed measures such as [[merit pay]], [[school voucher]]s, weakening of teacher [[academic tenure|tenure]], certain curricular changes, the [[No Child Left Behind Act]], and other reforms that make it easier for school districts to use disciplinary action against teachers. In July 2019, the NEA voted down a resolution that would have "re-dedicate[d] itself to the pursuit of increased student learning in every public school in America by putting a renewed emphasis on quality education".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ra.nea.org/business-item/2019-nbi-002/ |title=New Business Item 2 - 2019 NEA Annual Meeting |access-date=October 10, 2019 |author=<!--Not stated--> }}</ref>

With the modern scrutiny placed on teacher misconduct, particularly regarding sexual abuse, the NEA has been criticized for its alleged failure to crack down on abusive teachers. From an [[Associated Press]] investigation, former NEA President Reg Weaver commented, "Students must be protected from sexual predators and abuse, and teachers must be protected from false accusations". He then refused to be interviewed.<ref name=autogenerated7>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-10-20-teachermisconduct_N.htm |work=USA Today |title=Thousands of teachers cited for sex misconduct |date=October 20, 2007 |access-date=May 19, 2010 |first1=Martha |last1=Irvine |first2=Robert |last2=Tanner}}</ref> The Associated Press reported that much of the resistance to report the problem comes from "where fellow teachers look away", and "school administrators make behind-the-scenes deals".<ref name=autogenerated7 />

Inclusion of the "NEA Ex-Gay Caucus" at a convention in 2006 sparked controversy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/070106teachers.htm|title=Gays, Ex-Gays Square Off At NEA Convention|publisher=365gay.com|date=July 2, 2006|access-date=October 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605214550/http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/070106teachers.htm|archive-date=June 5, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.crisismagazine.com/february2005/desmond.htm |title=(In)Tolerance Education | access-date=December 19, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219224157/http://www.crisismagazine.com/february2005/desmond.htm |archive-date=December 19, 2006 |publisher=Crisis Magazine }}</ref> Some critics believe the NEA promotes a [[homosexual agenda|gay rights agenda]], especially since the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]] 2005 case ''Fields v. Palmdale School District''. The case originated when some California elementary school students were administered a school survey containing sexual questions. Parents, who had not been told the survey would contain questions of a sexual nature, brought the case forward.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Davis|first1=Elliott M.|title=Unjustly Usupring the Parental Right: Fields v. Palmdale School District, 427 F.3d 1197 (9th Cir. 2005)|journal=Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy|volume=29 |url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol29_No3_Davis.pdf|access-date=December 3, 2015}}</ref> The court in that case initially ruled that parents' fundamental right to control the upbringing of their children "does not extend beyond the threshold of the school door", which upon petition for rehearing was struck and clarified to "does not entitle individual parents to enjoin school boards from providing information the boards determine to be appropriate in connection with the performance of their educational functions",<ref name=Rehearing>{{Cite web|url=https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F3/447/447.F3d.1187.03-56499.html|title=447 F.3d 1187|website=law.resource.org|accessdate=February 27, 2021}}</ref> and that a public school has the right to provide its students with "whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Russo|first1=Charles J.|title=International Perspectives on Education, Religion and Law|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-01990-7|page=32}}</ref> NEA states that it does not "encourage schools to teach students to become gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT)", but the NEA does believe that "schools should be safe for all students and advocates that schools should raise awareness of homophobia and intervene when LGBT students are harassed".<ref name=autogenerated2>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nea.org/topics/truth.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714044312/http://www.nea.org/topics/truth.html|url-status=dead|title=NEA: A Response to Critics|archivedate=July 14, 2007|accessdate=February 27, 2021}}</ref>

A leading critic of NEA from the left is Dr. Rich Gibson, whose article on the NEA–AFT merger convention outlines a critique of unionism itself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gibson |first=Rich |date=1998 |title=NEA-AFT-AFL-CIO? 'Not Just No, But HELL NO!' |url=https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/clogic/article/view/192686 |journal=Cultural Logic: A Journal of Marxist Theory & Practice |language=en |volume=3 |doi=10.14288/clogic.v3i0.192686 |issn=1097-3087}}</ref>

==Notable members==
* [[Zalmon Richards]], founder and president
* [[Cornelia Storrs Adair]], first teacher to serve as president of the National Education Association
* [[C. Louise Boehringer]], in 1913 she spoke at their convention in San Francisco<ref name="Binheim">{{cite book|last1=Binheim|first1=Max|last2=Elvin |first2=Charles A. |title=Women of the West: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Living Eminent Women in the Eleven Western States of the United States of America|year=1928|location=Los Angeles |publisher=Publishers Press|url=https://archive.org/details/womenofwestserie00binh|access-date=August 6, 2017}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>
* [[Jill Biden]], [[First Lady of the United States]] from 2021-2025<ref>{{cite web |title=Educator Event with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden |url=https://educationvotes.nea.org/educator-event-with-first-lady-dr-jill-biden/ |website=nea.org |publisher=National Education Association |access-date=January 21, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Della Prell Darknell Campbell]]<ref name="Binheim" />
* [[William George Carr]], Executive Director of the NEA from 1952 to 1967<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas|first=Robert McG. Jr.|date=March 10, 1996|title=William G. Carr Is Dead at 95; Former Head of Teachers' Group|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/10/us/william-g-carr-is-dead-at-95-former-head-of-teachers-group.html|newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York, New York|access-date=June 6, 2018}}</ref>
* [[Katherine M. Cook]] (1876–1962), Chief, Division of Rural Education, [[United States Department of Education|Bureau of Education]]; Chief, Division of Special Problems, Office of Education, [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|HEW]]<ref name="EveningStar1962">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Katherine Cook, 86, Former Official of HEW |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-mrs-katherine-cook-86-fo/160523466/ |access-date=8 December 2024 |work=Evening Star |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=9 June 1962 |page=10}}</ref>
* [[Sabra R. Greenhalgh]], life member of the NEA, elected a delegate to represent northern California at the annual convention in Columbus, Ohio, in 1931<ref name="Binheim" />
* [[Jessie Gray (educator)]], president (1933–1934)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1933-11-30 |title=They'll Be Here Too, for Teachers Convention |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-austin-american-theyll-be-here-too/138054933/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |work=The Austin American |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
* [[Ada Van Stone Harris]] (1866-1923), President, NEA's Department of Elementary Education (1916)
* [[Kate Wetzel Jameson]], member<ref name="Binheim" />
* [[Vesta C. Muehleisen]], member<ref name="Binheim" />
* [[Caroline Haven Ober]], member<ref name="Binheim" />
* [[William F. Phelps]], founder and president<ref>{{cite web| url=http://library.albany.edu/digital/alumni/phelps.html| title=Alumni Association 150th Anniversary Exhibit| access-date=2010-12-23| publisher=University of Albany Library M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives| archive-date=August 7, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807100902/http://library.albany.edu/digital/alumni/phelps.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Waurine Walker]], president (1954–1955)
* [[Pearl Anderson Wanamaker]], president (1946–1947)
* [[Caroline S. Woodruff]], president (1937–1938)
* [[Mary Yost]], vice-president of the Western Division of Department of Deans of Women<ref name="The Stanford Daily 1954">{{cite journal|title=Doctor Mary Yost, Former Stanford Dean of Women, Is Claimed by Stroke|journal=The Stanford Daily|date=1954|volume=125|issue=24|url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19540305-01.2.2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------#|access-date=January 10, 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{NSRW poster|National Educational Association}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}
* {{cite archival metadata|title=Guide to the National Education Association- |url=https://library.gwu.edu/national-education-association-archives|repository=Special Collections Research Center, [[Gelman Library|Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library]], The George Washington University|location=Washington, DC}}
* [http://www.influenceexplorer.com/organization/national-education-assn/1b8fea7e453d4e75841eac48ff9df550/ National Education Assn] influence profile from ''Influence Explorer'' by the [[Sunlight Foundation]]
* [https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/education/concepts/national-education-association "National Education Association". Infoplease. Based on Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2007.]
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409083632/http://www.landmarklegal.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=161|date=April 9, 2010|title=NEA Accountability Project}} by [[Landmark Legal Foundation]]
* [https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/one-hat-labor/ One Hat for Labor?] by David Moberg, ''[[The Nation]]'', April 29, 2009
* [https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv96002 Washington Education Association records], 1920-1977. 63.56 cubic feet. At the [[Labor Archives of Washington]], University of Washington Libraries Special Collections

{{Authority control}}

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