The teacher unions

Myron Lieberman

Everyone wants to reform public education in America. But few realize that the principal obstruction to all reform is a pair of powerful and well-entrenched organizations: the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The NEA and AFT enroll over three million members. Their local, state, and national revenues exceed $1 billion annually, not counting their PACs, foundations, and wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries. In this unprecedented expose, Myron Lieberman shows how they raise and spend vast amounts, how they protect the power and perquisites of more than 6,000 officers and staff, and how they employ more full-time political staff that the Democratic and Republican parties combined. Teachers will be shocked to learn how the unions stifle dissent within their ranks, how union bureaucrats enjoy a standard of living few teachers could hope to achieve, and how union national politicial activities are far removed from most teachers' interests or political preferences.