NEA Convention 2014: Membership Declines for Fifth Straight Year

Intercepts reports:

I have covered the open hearing on NEA’s strategic plan and budget for 16 consecutive years. Fifteen minutes before the start of this year’s presentation, I learned that “open” had been redefined to “open to NEA members only.” Or, in layman’s terms, “closed.”

This was a troublesome obstacle, but not an insurmountable one. I can still report that in 2013-14 NEA lost members for the fifth consecutive year, and expects to continue to lose members for the next two years at least.

Here is the breakdown in full-time equivalents (FTEs) for both active professionals and education support employees since 2010-11 and extending to 2015-16. The use of FTEs corrects for members who pay less than full dues, and members belonging to merged affiliates, who split their dues between NEA and AFT. “Active” members are those currently working in the public schools.

2010-11 actual : 2,239,000

2011-12 actual: 2,153,000

2012-13 actual: 2,106,000

2013-14 projected*: 2,045,000

2014-15 projected: 2,015,000

2015-16 projected: 1,990,000

Thanks to Ben Cunningham for the heads up on this one. Even those who seeking special privileges from the state face the law of diminishing returns at some point.