The Missouri National Education Association (MNEA) is the largest statewide teachers union in Missouri. ¹ It is an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), and represents 32,000 teachers and school-staff members across Missouri. ²

The MNEA uses litigation and political campaigns to advance the power of government-worker unions and traditional public schools in Missouri and opposes attempts to create alternatives for students, parents, or teachers such as charter schools, right-to-work laws, or teacher merit pay. ^{3 4 5}

Background

The Missouri National Education Association is the National Education Association (NEA) affiliate in Missouri. ⁶ It represents 32,000 teachers and other school employees in K-12 schools, community colleges and other educational institutions. ⁷

The MNEA supports Democratic Party candidates for public office and works to advance Democratic and left-of-center policy priorities in Missouri. It describes its goals as “Ending racism, sexism, homophobia, and other systemic injustices in schools.” ^{8 9 10}

In the 2022 election cycle, the MNEA’s political action committee (PAC) reported $40,627 in expenditures and $97,684 in contributions to primarily Democratic candidates, parties, and other political action committees. ^{11 12}

The MNEA uses its relationships and power with Democratic elected officials in Missouri to oppose charter schools, educational vouchers, and other forms of educational choice, such as allowing parents to enroll their children in neighboring public-school districts. ¹³

Despite regularly publishing and citing reports that rank Missouri as having among the lowest-paid teachers in the country, the MNEA has opposed proposals to allow school districts to implement merit pay or other alternative compensation systems based on student performance. ^{14 15 16}

Efforts to Expand and Protect Public Union Power

The Missouri NEA has been at the forefront of efforts in Missouri to expand the power of public employee unions to force government employees to be represented by and financially support a union, while fighting off efforts to limit public employee union powers or provide options for workers who are unhappy with their union representation. ^{17 18 19}

For many decades, Missouri NEA’s power was limited by a 1947 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that the right to collective bargaining in the state constitution did not apply to government workers, as well as a 1982 ruling that local governments could renegotiate contracts with public employee units at any time they desired. ²⁰ But in 2007, a lawsuit by the MNEA’s local affiliate in Independence, Missouri resulted in a Missouri State Supreme Court ruling that overturned those rulings and extended collective bargaining powers to MNEA members and other government employees across the state. ²¹

The MNEA opposed a 2018 ballot measure that would have made Missouri a Right to Work state. ²² It was a leading member of a largely labor union-funded coalition that outspent the pro-Right to Work coalition by an $18.2 million to $4.8 million margin ²³ and defeated the proposal. ²⁴

The MNEA was one of the unions to sue in 2018 to successfully block implementation of a “Paycheck Protection” law in Missouri. ²⁵ The law would have limited the power of public-sector unions by restricting the topics on which they could bargain, requiring new unions to recertify every three years through vote of their membership, annually receive member approval to use paycheck deduction for dues collection or to use member dues on political spending, forbid employers from recognizing unions without a vote of workers, and make other changes to existing labor law. ^{26 27 28} The Missouri Supreme Court voided the law in 2021, ruling that it violated the state constitution’s rights to collective bargaining and equal protection. ^{29 30}

1. ^[1] “About Mnea.” Missouri National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/about.
2. “About Mnea.” Missouri National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/about
3. “Mo Supreme Court Rules Public Employees Have Bargaining Rights.” St. Louis Public Radio, May 29, 2007. https://www.stlpr.org/other/2007-05-29/mo-supreme-court-rules-public-employees-have-bargaining-rights.
4. “Missouri Proposition A, Right to Work Referendum (August 2018).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Proposition_A,_Right_to_Work_Referendum_(August_2018).
5. Lieb, David A. “Unions Seek to Block New Missouri Labor Group Restrictions.” Associated Press, August 27, 2018. https://apnews.com/unions-seek-to-block-new-missouri-labor-group-restrictions-86570e8442e843a49f20a1640752127d.
6. “About Mnea.” Missouri National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/about.
7. “About Mnea.” Missouri National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/about.
8. ^[1] “Elections & Candidate Recommendations.” Missouri National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/vote4education.
9. “MNEA Resolutions.” Missouri National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/resolutions.
10. “NEA EdJustice.” National Education Association. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/racial-social-justice.
11. “Missouri National Education Association.” OpenSecrets. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=MISSOURI%2BNATIONAL%2BEDUCATION%2BASSOCIATION&type=donors.
12. “Committee Summary: MO National Education Assoc-PAC.” Missouri Ethics Commission, December 7, 2022. https://www.mec.mo.gov/mec/Campaign_Finance/CommInfo.aspx?MECID=C000644.
13. “Legislative Update – 2024, Week 8.” Missouri National Education Association, February 23, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/news/legislative-update-2024-week-8.
14. Hanshaw, Annelise. “Missouri Lawmakers Want to Raise Teacher Pay but Anticipate Senate Resistance • Missouri Independent.” Missouri Independent, February 7, 2024. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/07/missouri-lawmakers-want-to-raise-teacher-pay-but-anticipate-senate-resistance/.
15. “Legislative Update – 2024, Week 8.” Missouri National Education Association, February 23, 2024. https://www.mnea.org/news/legislative-update-2024-week-8.
16. Nelson, Alisa. “Missouri Considers Bill to Let State Agencies, Schools Give Worker Retention and Performance Incentives.” Missourinet, April 25, 2023. https://www.missourinet.com/2023/04/25/missouri-considers-bill-to-let-state-agencies-schools-give-worker-retention-and-performance-incentives/.
17. “Mo Supreme Court Rules Public Employees Have Bargaining Rights.” St. Louis Public Radio, May 29, 2007. https://www.stlpr.org/other/2007-05-29/mo-supreme-court-rules-public-employees-have-bargaining-rights.
18. “Missouri Proposition A, Right to Work Referendum (August 2018).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Proposition_A,_Right_to_Work_Referendum_(August_2018).
19. Lieb, David A. “Unions Seek to Block New Missouri Labor Group Restrictions.” Associated Press, August 27, 2018. https://apnews.com/unions-seek-to-block-new-missouri-labor-group-restrictions-86570e8442e843a49f20a1640752127d.
20. “Mo Supreme Court Rules Public Employees Have Bargaining Rights.” St. Louis Public Radio, May 29, 2007. https://www.stlpr.org/other/2007-05-29/mo-supreme-court-rules-public-employees-have-bargaining-rights.
21. “Mo Supreme Court Rules Public Employees Have Bargaining Rights.” St. Louis Public Radio, May 29, 2007. https://www.stlpr.org/other/2007-05-29/mo-supreme-court-rules-public-employees-have-bargaining-rights.
22. “Missouri Proposition A, Right to Work Referendum (August 2018).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Proposition_A,_Right_to_Work_Referendum_(August_2018).
23. “Missouri Proposition A, Right to Work Referendum (August 2018).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Proposition_A,_Right_to_Work_Referendum_(August_2018).
24. “Missouri Proposition A, Right to Work Referendum (August 2018).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Proposition_A,_Right_to_Work_Referendum_(August_2018).
25. Lieb, David A. “Unions Seek to Block New Missouri Labor Group Restrictions.” Associated Press, August 27, 2018. https://apnews.com/unions-seek-to-block-new-missouri-labor-group-restrictions-86570e8442e843a49f20a1640752127d.
26. Lieb, David A. “Unions Seek to Block New Missouri Labor Group Restrictions.” Associated Press, August 27, 2018. https://apnews.com/unions-seek-to-block-new-missouri-labor-group-restrictions-86570e8442e843a49f20a1640752127d.
27. Schallhorn, Kaitlyn. “Missouri Supreme Court Voids ‘paycheck Protection’ Bill.” The Missouri Times, June 1, 2021. https://themissouritimes.com/missouri-supreme-court-voids-paycheck-protection-bill/.
28. Potter, Terry, and Demetrius Peterson. “Missouri Supreme Court Voids 2018 Missouri Public Reform Law.” Labor Relations Law Insider, June 8, 2021. https://www.laborrelationslawinsider.com/2021/06/missouri-supreme-court-voids-2018-missouri-public-reform-law/.
29. ^[1] Schallhorn, Kaitlyn. “Missouri Supreme Court Voids ‘paycheck Protection’ Bill.” The Missouri Times, June 1, 2021. https://themissouritimes.com/missouri-supreme-court-voids-paycheck-protection-bill/.
30. Potter, Terry, and Demetrius Peterson. “Missouri Supreme Court Voids 2018 Missouri Public Reform Law.” Labor Relations Law Insider, June 8, 2021. https://www.laborrelationslawinsider.com/2021/06/missouri-supreme-court-voids-2018-missouri-public-reform-law/.