Mike Antonucci went through the National Education Association's financial disclosure report so you don't have to. The NEA is the nation's largest teachers union. He found that the union spent $15 million on advocacy -- $3.8 less than the previous year.
Some interesting (but mostly predictable) grantees include Center for American Progress, American Bridge, Committee for Education Funding, Economic Policy Institute, Education Writers Association, Marylanders for Marriage Equality, and the Republican Main Street Partnership. Also, the NEA gave $25,000 to something called the Hip Hop Caucus Education Fund.
One standout recipient is Idahoans for Responsible Education Reform, which received a gift of over $1.04 million. As you may recall, Idaho was a hot and expensive place for education activism this fall. A ballot contest forced state schools chief Tom Luna to defend laws that dramatically changed school technology and the ways teachers are compensated. Idahoans for Responsible Education Reform played a big role in the fight against Luna. Thanks, in part, to the NEA contribution, voters took down the so-called Luna laws in November.
See the full list below, per Antonucci:
AFL-CIO - $1.15 millionAlliance for Justice - $5,000
America Votes - $376,100
America Works - $250,000
American Bridge 21st Century - $200,000
American Constitution Society - $10,000
American Sustainable Business Council Action Fund - $15,000
Asian American Justice Center - $10,000
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance - $5,000
Be the Change - $100,000
Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs - $10,000
California Community Foundation - $6,000
Campaign for America's Future - $20,000
Center for American Progress - $35,000
Center for Economic Organizing - $12,800
Center for Teacher Leadership - $63,178
Center for Teaching Quality - $120,767
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association - $50,000
Citizens Helping Heroes - $10,000
Citizens for Tax Justice - $15,000
Committee for Charlotte 2012 - $250,000
Committee for Education Funding - $17,713
Committee on States - $25,000
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. - $70,000
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute - $55,000
Council of State Governments - $6,000
Daily Kos - $30,000
Democracy Alliance - $235,000
Democratic GAIN - $10,000
Economic Policy Institute - $250,000
Educating Maryland Kids - $200,000
Education Writers Association - $10,500
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate - $200,000
Excelencia in Education - $10,000
Fair Districts Now - $478,000
Fair Elections Legal Network - $50,000
Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network - $7,500
Good Jobs First - $15,000
Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice - $250,000
Health Care for America Now! - $125,000
HEROS, Inc. - $100,000
Hip Hop Caucus Education Fund - $25,000
Idahoans for Responsible Education Reform - $1,042,000
Initiative for Responsible Investment - $5,000
Japanese American Citizens League - $5,000
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy - $9,300
Kansas Values Institute - $49,950
Keep It Local North Dakota - $135,000
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law - $25,000
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights - $5,000
Learning First Alliance - $91,200
Learning Forward - $25,000
Marylanders for Marriage Equality - $50,000
MediaMatters - $100,000
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund - $10,000
Montanans for Fiscal Accountability - $25,555
Moving South Dakota Forward - $225,000
NAACP - $11,000
National Action Network - $25,000
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund - $5,000
National Black Justice Coalition - $20,000
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation - $5,000
National Conference of State Legislatures - $31,385
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education - $202,646
National Hispanic Leadership Institute - $25,000
National Public Pension Coalition - $135,000
National Women's Law Center - $10,000
Netroots Nation - $15,000
New Hampshire Unity Table Fund - $50,000
Ohio Democratic Party - $150,000
Organizations Concerned About Rural Education - $5,000
Opportunity to Learn Action Fund - $300,000
Parent Teacher Home Visit Project - $58,353
Partnership for 21st Century Skills - $35,000
Patriot Majority PAC - $100,000
People for the American Way - $135,000
Progressive Majority - $50,284
Project Love Remember the Children Foundation - $250,000
Project New West - $140,000
Protect Maine Votes - $81,500
Public Education Defense Fund - $1 million
Quality Education and Jobs - $50,000
Republican Main Street Partnership - $25,000
Ripon Society - $10,000
Robert Russa Moton Museum - $50,000
SEIU - $15,333
Taxpayers in Support of Public Education - $30,000
TIDES Foundation - $100,000
University of Colorado Boulder Sponsored Project - $250,000
U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute - $100,000
Voces de la Frontera - $23,515
Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation - $166,666
We Are Ohio - $4,568,000
Wellstone Action - $30,586