So, For WHAT do we pay Union Dues ????

NEA has my e-mail address. I guess that is what happens when you send in a teaching tip for NEA Today or the Teacher Tips stuff on their website. Oh well. So, what did I get today, from NEA ? An announcement about updates to their Teacher ToolKit. This is a "free" thing you can get from NEA, BUT, if you want the stuff that is REALLY of use to the average classroom teacher, here is what you pay:

"The basic tools are still FREE, and NEA members can access all of the advanced tools for $72.95 per year, $21.95 per quarter, or $7.95 per month. Pricing for non-members is slightly more."

Isn't part of being an association/union, besides dealing with collective bargaining, supposed to be providing professional assistance? Doesn't NEA collect enough money from us classroom teachers to be able to provide the "advanced tools" without additional cost to NEA members? In my mind, this should be one of the BENEFITS of NEA membership. Is there anything in the NEA Teacher ToolKit that schools do not provide or is not available elsewhere on the internet?

Do any of you use this NEA Teacher ToolKit? If so, please let us know your opinion of it, if it helps you in your teaching, and if it is worth paying another $73.00 a year of your money to NEA.

Thanks for reading my blog. As always, your comments are welcome!