Teachers Continue to Leave Unions | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post, by Bob Luebke, was originally published in the Education section of Civitas's online edition.

    Mike Antonucci at the Education Intelligence Agency has published his annual membership and finance numbers for National Education Association (NEA) and state affiliates. And, if you're a union advocate, the numbers aren't good.

    Total NEA membership is down .5 percent from last year and down 6.4 percent over the past five years. In 2015-16, NEA membership was 2,963,540. About half of all NEA state affiliates lost membership in 2015-16.

    Total membership in the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), the NEA state affiliate in North Carolina, stood at 32,918, a decline of 8.6 percent from the previous year, the largest membership drop of any affiliate other than the District of Columbia (37.4 percent). Over the past five years, NCAE membership is down 40.2 percent, the third largest decline among existing affiliates.

    Regarding NEA finances the news is also grim. In 2015-16, the NEA national office and 19 state affiliates had operating deficits. NCAE was one of those 19 affiliates. It posted an operating deficit of $754,000, the seventh largest deficit among NEA state affiliates.

    These numbers continue the long, steady decline in NCAE membership. It's clear from the numbers referenced, NCAE doesn't meet the 40,000 membership threshold necessary to authorize the state to process dues check-off payroll deductions. While the numbers are lacking, the benefit continues. Go figure.