This post originally appeared at https://wisconsindailystar.com/news/wisconsin-congressman-scott-fitzgerald-introduces-bill-taking-on-national-education-associations-political-clout/mkittle/2023/07/21/

U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-05) introduced a bill that would check the power of the National Education Association (NEA).

The Stopping Teachers Unions from Damaging Education Needs Today (STUDENT) Act aims to reform the NEA’s federal charter and “rededicate the organization to the pursuit of increased student learning and quality education in schools across America,” according to the congressman.

“Since receiving its federal charter the NEA has strayed far from its original purpose, becoming little more than a political machine masking as an advocate for public education and students,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “The organization’s massive political operation seems more interested in pushing a radical progressive agenda than advocating for student and schools.”

NEA critics have long been concerned that the union is more interested in liberal politics than helping America’s K-12 students succeed.

Fitzgerald notes that at a conference in recent years, the NEA voted down a business item to “rededicate itself to the pursuit of increased student learning in every public school in America.” The nation’s largest labor union has, however, voted in support of the right to an abortion, supporting illegal immigration, and expanding professional development for educators to help create student Gender Sexuality Alliance clubs.

The NEA was widely criticized for lobbying the Biden administration to keep schools locked down during COVID-19 despite warnings from health experts that broad remote education was proving more dangerous than the virus. Officials from the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers were found to have pressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make last-minute changes to school reopening guidance that kept schools closed longer.

Students nationwide continue to deal with the disastrous impacts of COVID lockdown policies. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the nation’s report card,” shows 13-year-olds posted historically low math scores last year.

ABC News reported:

Both math and reading scores declined in five selected percentile groups: 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th, reflecting lower-, middle- and higher-performing students, according to the NAEP report. Students’ math scores decreased in all regions of the country and in nearly all student subgroups. American Indian/Native and Black students saw the most significant changes in math, with scores down by 20 and 13 points, respectively.

“Union bosses like Randi Weingarten have conspired with politically charged school boards and administrators to implement one-size-fits-all policies that limit students’ growth and replace core academic courses with partisan indoctrination,” House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in a statement, referring to the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

The NEA was quick to again endorse President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Democrats’ bid for re-election.

“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are tireless advocates for public education, proving time and time again that this is the most pro-public education and pro-union administration in modern history,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in a statement earlier this year.

Fitzgerald said his bill adds accountability and transparency provisions commonly found in other federal charters to improve the NEA Federal charter, including:

• Notifying employees of their First Amendment right to refrain from membership
• Receiving clear and affirmative consent to membership and payment of associated dues
• Prohibiting the NEA from engaging in political activities and lobbying
• Requiring the NEA to submit annual reports to Congress
• Prohibiting NEA affiliates from harming students and families with school-shuttering walkouts
• Requiring NEA officers to be U.S. citizens
• Repealing a unique-to-NEA D.C. tax break

While the bill may find support in the House, narrowly controlled by Republicans, it is unlikely to see the light of day in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The NEA and its Advocacy Fund raked in nearly $40 million in contributions combined in the last election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org.

“Even more than most labor unions, they have little use for Republicans, giving Democrats at least 94 percent of the funds they contributed to candidates and parties since as far back as 1990, where our data begins,” the campaign finance tracker reports.

Fitzgerald’s bill does have the backing of some of the strongest players in the conservative movement, including the Freedom Foundation, Heritage Action, and the Institute for the American Worker.

“The Freedom Foundation applauds Rep. Fitzgerald for his proposed legislation to update and overhaul the National Education Association’s 117-year-old federal charter, Aaron Withe, CEO of the foundation, said.

“The National Education Association is no longer a professional association. It’s not an advocate for quality education. It’s not even merely the largest teachers’ union in the country. First and foremost, it is a partisan political machine,” Withe added.

The NEA did not return The Star News Network’s request for comment.

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.

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