Article: NEA Salaries
EIA Exclusive: NEA's Annual Labor Organization Disclosure Report – Part One, Salaries
EIA has been reporting on the new labor organization financial disclosure reports (LM-2s) filed by teachers' unions (see communiqués of October 24, October 31 and December 5). The 2004-05 LM-2 for the National Education Association has now been released, and it will take two communiqués to cover the highlights. Part One will concentrate on the union's payroll spending. Part Two, which I will disseminate next Monday, will focus on NEA's other expenditures and outlays.
NEA national headquarters took in $295 million in dues in 2004-05, the major portion of its total receipts of $341.2 million. Roughly one-third of that money is spent on the salaries and benefits of NEA's employees, executives and retirees.
Topping that list is NEA President Reg Weaver, who received a base salary of $272,170, plus allowances for benefits and living expenses of $98,258, for a total pay of $370,428. These cash allowances for NEA's three executive officers are meant to compensate them for the cost of maintaining two homes, plus the fact that they do not receive retirement benefits from NEA during their union tenure.
NEA Vice President Dennis Van Roekel received a base salary of $226,077 and allowances of $46,873, for a total of $272,950. NEA Secretary-Treasurer Lily Eskelsen received a base salary of $223,104 and allowances of $49,143 for a total of $272,247.
These figures may or may not represent the full amount earned by the three executives, as they have the option to defer a portion of their NEA income during their time in office. Former NEA President Bob Chase, for example, received $62,790 in 2004-05, even though he completed his term in 2002.
The salaries of the members of the NEA Executive Committee are also included in this year's report. Michael Billirakis of Ohio received $159,550, Mark Cebulski of Wisconsin received $132,145, Carolyn Crowder of Oklahoma received $99,375, Michael Marks of Mississippi received $146,504, Rebecca Pringle of Pennsylvania received $132,643, and Marsha Smith of Maryland received $174,310.
Each of NEA's executive officers and committee members reported spending 5 percent of their time last year on political activities and lobbying.
The rest of NEA's $57.6 million payroll covers the 638 people who collected wages from NEA national headquarters during 2004-05. Of these, 612 were employees of NEA national headquarters, including interns. The other 26 were executive directors of state affiliates who were paid by NEA. Here is a list of the state executive directors and the amounts they received:
Tom Harvey (NEA Alaska) - $129,644
Phillip Moeckli (Colorado Education Association) - $122,259
John Yrchik (Connecticut Education Association) - $163,617
Howard Weinberg (Delaware State Education Association) - $130,210
H.T. Nguyen (Federal Education Association) - $157,272
Joan Husted (Hawaii State Teachers Association) - $104,977
James Shackelford (Idaho Education Association) - $115,183
Larry Wicks (Education Minnesota) - $136,201
Frank Yates (Mississippi Association of Educators) - $108,795
Peggy Cochran (Missouri NEA) - $147,886
David Smith (MEA-MFT in Montana) - $105,059
Edward Shumaker (NEA New Hampshire) - $141,750
Kay Brilliant (NEA New Mexico) - $123,773
Kathleen Lyons (NEA New York) - $152,788
Colleen Borst (North Carolina Association of Educators) - $105,737
Joseph Westby (North Dakota Education Association) - $100,665
David Duvall (Oklahoma Education Association) - $160,521
Lela Odom (Oklahoma Education Association) - $63,077
Joann Waller (Oregon Education Association) - $140,583
Robert Walsh (NEA Rhode Island) - $130,835
Richard Miller (South Carolina Education Association) - $130,299
Robert Whitehead (South Dakota Education Association) - $90,059
E.C. Walker (Texas State Teachers Association) - $133,197
Joel Cook (Vermont NEA) - $117,963
Jerry Caruthers (Virginia Education Association) - $129,087
Jean Hayek (Wyoming Education Association) - $88,159
The top earner among NEA staffers was NEA Executive Director John Wilson, who received $258,720 in base salary, plus $46,257 in allowances, for a total of $304,977. The average salary of the 612 employees who drew a paycheck from NEA in 2004-05 was $88,898. Of these staff members (not including elected officers or state executive directors), 281 -- about 46 percent -- received salaries in excess of $100,000.
NEA also paid out more than $41.2 million last year in benefits to its employees and retirees. The total number of current and retired employees currently receiving benefits is unknown to EIA.
Next week, Part Two: Contributions, Grants and Political Expenditures
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