No they are a political organization. Instead of the money going to schools, teachers, and students, the money goes to lobby congress and the court system.

The money isn’t suppose to go to the schools or the teachers, teachers pay the NEA, and yes, they do a lot of things. My school is very restricted on what they can and can’t force teachers to do. I’m not going to wake up tomorrow to find that I have to spend Friday night at the school or I’ll be fired, because if my school said that, I’d contact the NEA, and they’d agree that this wasn’t part of our agreement, and they’d sue the school. It’s a national union, and it can be very helpful and effective in helping teacher retain rights. ..by the way, there are some nights that I am required to stay or I’d be penalized, but these dates aren’t random, they are part of my contract, and worked out with the unions. And there are so many other things, like how many kids can be in a class, if a student sues the teacher, if the teacher gets hurt at school and the school doesn’t want to pay.. a union can be very needed in times like these… and also as a political force.