Making a difference, independently

NEA Today, Jan 1999

Americans elected 435 candidates to the House of Representatives in November, but only 98 of them ran in races that were realistically up for grabs.

In 11 of these close races, the stakes for children and public education couldn't have been higher. In these 11 contests, a strong supporter of kids and public schools was facing an equally strong candidate opposed to supporting public education.

These 11 close races could have gone either way. But, in the end, they all went the right way-and the pro-public schools candidate won-in large part thanks to an imaginative series of NEA "independent expenditure" campaigns

Through these campaigns, political action dollars voluntarily contributed by NEA members around the country financed TV, radio, and direct mail messages that helped voters understand the stark differences between the competing candidates on education.

These messages were just part of the pro-public education campaign work made possible by the $6 million NEA members contributed to the NEA political action committee, NEA-PAC, for the 1998 federal elections.

This month, the NEA political action committee will be gearing up for the year 2000 with a new name, the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education "This new name more accurately reflects the focus of our political action efforts," notes NEA President Bob Chase. Watch future issues of NEA Today for more details.