NEA Attacks Ohio Union Reform

I’ve reported previously that We Are Ohio, the group lying its pants off to kill Senate Bill 5, is funded chiefly by D.C. unions. Yesterday, Hot Air noted that the National Education Association (NEA) plans to spend as much as $5 million more to block the reforms passed by Ohio’s elected leaders.

If NEA is genuinely concerned about Ohio teachers, they are saints compared to their Ohio affiliate, the Ohio Education Association (OEA). Don’t believe me? Consider OEA pay, the words of OEA staff, the treatment of OEA retirees, and smears against non-union teachers, for starters.

Maybe NEA is different…


Why is NEA desperate to keep Ohioans from voting Yes on Issue 2? In addition to instituting merit pay, putting a stop to last-in-first-out firing policies, and requiring government workers to pay for a small portion of their benefits, Senate Bill 5 ends mandatory “fair share” dues taken from non-members.

Take a look at NEA pay and tell me it’s not about the money:

Dennis Van Roekel, President	$397,721
John Wilson, Executive Director	$384,129
Becky Pringle, Secretary Treasurer	$340,845
Lily Eskelsen, Vice President	$326,563
Carmen Quesada, Director	$308,773
John Stocks, Deputy Executive Director	$277,613
Dorothy Harrell, Director	$270,529
Cynthia Swann, Sr Policy AdvDir	$258,751
Michael McPherson, Chief Financial Officer	$249,499
HT Nguyen, State Affiliate Exec Dir	$246,403
Len Paolillo, Executive Committee	$241,556
John Yrchik, State Affiliate Exec Dir	$228,786
Kimberly Anderson, Org Specialist	$228,356
Julie McGinnis Garcia, CLO	$224,117
Barry Melamed, Assoc. Director	$222,951
Tamara Hamilton, Dir CareerDev ExelEd	$222,220
Sheila Simmons, Director	$221,934
Andrew Linebaugh, Director	$221,733
Armand Tiberio, RegionalDir	$220,416
Segun Eubanks, Director	$214,015
David DuVall, RegionalDir	$212,649
Dennis Friel, RegionalDir	$212,160
Janet Dade, Director	$210,970
Kathleen Lyons, RegionalDir	$208,009
Leona Hiraoka, Director	$206,885
Roxanne Dove, Director	$206,816
Bouy Te, Director	$206,751
Ronald Henderson, Director	$206,161
Willard Raabe, Director	$204,717
Daniel Hand, Director	$204,343
Philip McLaurin, Director	$203,845
Michael Edwards, Sr Policy AdvDir	$203,778
Donna Healy-Dean, Director	$202,462
Harry Lawson, RegionalDir	$201,658
Jacob Sweeney, Org Specialist	$201,191
Maurice Joseph, Deputy General Counsel	$200,682

View complete spreadsheet, pulled directly from the union’s 2010 report to the U.S. Department of Labor.

36 NEA employees & officers were paid more than $200,000 last year. 97 NEA employees were paid more than $175,000. 183 were paid more than $150,000. 441 were paid more than $100,000!

Let me make sure I’ve got this right:

1. Teachers are grievously underpaid.
2. Corporations – who make “products” and “services” and sell them in a “marketplace” where people have “choices” – are to blame.
3. Teachers in Ohio and across the country pay NEA hundreds of dollars every year so NEA can elect big-government politicians, cheer on deficit spending, agitate for higher taxes, and become millionaires in the process.

Does NEA even allow math teachers to join?

Like all government unions, NEA is in the business of self-preservation at taxpayer expense. Opposing Senate Bill 5 won't help get Ohio back on track... but that's of no consequence to D.C. union bosses. Vote Yes on Issue 2!
Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted at that hero and RedState.