By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A few weeks ago, 1,015 young teachers in Nevada’s Clark County School District received layoff notices after their union – the Clark County Education Association – refused to cancel scheduled pay raises for veteran teachers.

The young teachers will soon be living on unemployment checks and COBRA insurance, while veteran teachers will continue to enjoy comfortable salaries and first-rate health insurance benefits.

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It’s an appalling display of selfishness and injustice, which is why the National Education Association – the parent union to the CCEA – has chosen not to publicly comment on it.

Instead, the NEA is attempting to divert attention away from union greed by pointing to corporate greed. The NEA, which is both the nation’s largest labor union and the largest teachers union, has joined forces with 28 other far-left organizations to create “Americans for Tax Fairness,” reports Crooks and Liars. The coalition is calling for higher taxes on Americans who earn more than $250,000 a year.

In a press release, the Americans for Tax Fairness say they want an economy that “works for all.” This requires everyone to “pay their fair share” in taxes, which includes “closing corporate tax loopholes.”

The NEA could be – and should be – blasted for ignoring instances of union greed (as in the case of Clark County schools). But the NEA should also be criticized for wanting to close tax loopholes for corporations when the teachers union itself paid no taxes on the $399 million it collected in forced membership dues in 2010-11, as Dropout Nation’s RiShawn Biddle recently reported.

How is that fair?

Sure, the NEA is considered a nonprofit, but why should the union be allowed to shirk its tax duty?

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Corporations anger the left because they make big profits, but that’s because they actually produce something of value.

Teacher unions, on the other hand, don’t actually produce anything – except envy, strife, and the dumb argument that professional employees should be treated as indistinguishable and interchangeable workers. Teacher unions aren’t even able to produce higher student test scores.

NEA leaders cannot defend their record – or justify the many instances of union greed costing young teachers their jobs – so they’re trying to change the conversation.

The public needs to hold them accountable.

Until the NEA voluntarily pays taxes on their hundreds of millions in revenue and demands just treatment for their youngest members, they have no standing to criticize anybody for being greedy.