AFT's Contributions Favor Labor Groups. An Education Intelligence Agency analysis of the American Federation of Teachers' financial disclosure report for the 2007-08 fiscal year reveals the national union contributed most of $2.8 million to advocacy groups and charities with roots in the broader labor movement. AFT's fiscal year runs from July to June, so the report does not include spending from the 2008 election campaign.
The disbursements of the National Education Association tended to go to interest groups with a primary focus in education or social issues. AFT's contributions, on the other hand, reflected its affiliation with the AFL-CIO and its active participation in organized labor outside of public education. The union made large donations to the National Labor College, the Economic Policy Institute and American Rights at Work.
Here is an alphabetic list of the recipients of AFT's payments, with relevant web links:
A. Philip Randolph Institute - $7,000
Alliance for Retired Americans - $17,927
American Center for International Labor Solidarity - $5,000
American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center - $15,000
American Ireland Fund - $10,000
American Labor Studies Center - $10,000
American Rights at Work - $125,000
Americans for Democratic Action - $5,000
America's Agenda: Health Care for All - $25,000
Apollo Alliance/Tides Center - $25,000
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance - $5,000
Black Leadership Forum - $5,000
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good - $50,000
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability - $110,000
Children's Defense Fund - $5,000
Clergy Strategic Alliances - $24,423
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists - $5,000
Coalition of Labor Union Women - $10,025
Committee for Education Funding - $23,829
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. - $36,200
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute - $30,000
Council on Competitiveness - $10,000
Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action - $10,000
Economic Policy Institute - $450,000
Faith and Politics Institute - $5,000
Getting It Right for Ohio's Future - $10,000
Good Jobs First - $5,675
Human Rights Campaign - $5,000
Jewish Labor Committee - $11,800
Jobs with Justice - $10,000
Keystone Research Center - $13,750
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement - $20,000
Labor Heritage Foundation - $5,000
Labor Project for Working Families - $5,000
Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State - $5,000
Labor Research Association - $10,000
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights - $25,000
Learning First Alliance - $44,700
National Alliance of Black School Educators - $5,000
National Black Caucus of State Legislators Labor Roundtable - $7,500
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse - $10,000
National Coalition on Health Care - $10,000
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education - $60,429
National Council of Negro Women - $5,000
National Democratic Institute - $75,000
National Education Association - $10,690 (for safe schools training)
National Employment Law Project - $5,000
National Endowment for Democracy - $22,500
National Labor College - $373,930
National Public Pension Coalition - $7,125
National Urban League - $5,110
People for the American Way - $5,000
Pride at Work - $5,000
Rebuild America's Schools - $40,000
Research Associates of America - $189,796
Save Our Schools - $11,220
SEIU - $375,622 (payments for Colorado WINS)
TransAfrica Forum - $5,000
U.S. Action - $5,000
U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute - $12,500
WAND Education Fund - $5,000
Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation - $300,000
Working America - $50,000