National Education Association

The National Education Association (NEA) was founded in 1857 in an effort to unite public education. They help to fight for educators and children. The core values of their organization include equal opportunity, a just society, democracy, professionalism, partnerships, and collective action; all in an effort to create more and better opportunities within public education (NEA, 2011). It is the largest professional employee organization  mad e up of elementary and secondary teachers, faculty, school administrators and students preparing to become teachers. (NEA, 2011).

Issues the National Education Association tackle include the No Child Left Behind Act, professional pay, education funding, minority community outreach and dropout prevention. They offer information relating to grant and award opportunities to educators and their students. In addition, they offer a variety of tools that educators may use in the classroom such as lesson plans and activities (NEA, 2011).

The National Education Association is involved in research efforts to address issues that are pertinent to public education. One such report is "The Effects of State Public k-12 Education Expenditures on Income Distribution" (NEA, 2011; Behr, Christofides & Neelakantan, 2004).  The study takes a look at education in the terms of human capital and the effects of income distribution and educational expenditures (Behr et al, 2004). The premise of the study focuses on the relationship between income distribution and the role of education level plays on income distribution. The results of the study indicate the following:

·         Public education expenditures per pupil have contributed to a decrease in income inequality

·         Public education expenditures caused decreases in income inequality across states by contributing to lower incomes than to higher incomes- more expenditures equal higher incomes

·         Increased incomes and lower inequality and reduced poverty rates lead to many benefits including reduced crime rates, and better quality of life (Behr, Christofides & Neelakantan, 2004).

Behr, T., Constantinos, C., Neelakantan, P. (2004). The effects of  state public k-12 education expenditures on income distibution. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/expenditures.pdf.

NEA. 2011. Vision, mission and values. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/19583.htm.