Dues Information

MEA/NEA Dues

How are MEA dues determined?

For MEA, are set by delegates to the MEA Representative Assembly in conjunction with adoption of the MEA budget. Per MEA governance documents,the MEA active membership fee

For those members with a contractual salary/wage for the prior year of less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), one and forty-four one hundredths percent (1.44 %) of each member’s contractual salary/wage for the prior year ending June 30 earned for work in a bargaining unit represented by MEA or one of its affiliates

For those members with a contractual salary/wage for the prior year of at least five thousand dollars ($5,000) but less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), one and forty-four one hundredths percent (1.44 %) of each member’s contractual salary/wage for the prior year ending June 30 earned for work in a bargaining unit represented by MEA or one of its affiliates.

For those members with a contractual salary/wage for the prior year of less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), one and forty-four one hundredths percent (1.44 %) of each member’s contractual salary/wage for the prior year ending June 30 earned for work in a bargaining unit represented by MEA or one of its affiliates.

For those members with a contractual salary/wage for the prior year of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or more one and one half percent (1.5 %) of each member’s contractual salary/wage for the prior year ending June 30 earned for work in a bargaining unit represented by MEA or one of its affiliates provided that the active membership dues calculated under this paragraph shall not exceed six hundred forty-five dollars ($645).

How are NEA dues determined?

NEA dues are set by national level governance documents.

Per the NEA Bylaws, the NEA full-time membership fee shall be “.00225 times the national average annual salary of classroom teachers in the public elementary and secondary schools (rounded to the nearest dollar) plus .00055 of the national average annual salary of classroom teachers in the public elementary and secondary schools (rounded to

the nearest dollar) to be allocated to the UniServ grants according to the policy of the NEA Board of Directors.” The dues are based on prior year salary data. Dues for ESP members are determined based upon the national average annual salary of school employees in educationalsupport positions, but in no event shall the dues be less than one-half the active dues for classroom teachers.

How much of my dues go to political candidates?

None!  State and federal campaign finance law states that we are not allowed to contribute dues money to political candidates – so we don’t!  Only voluntary contributions to the MEA Political Action Committee (MEA-PAC) or the NEA Fund for Children and Public education can be used for that purpose at the state and federal level, respectively.  However, every decision affecting public education is made by an elected politician at some level (local, state or federal).  As such, dues dollars can be and are used to lobby lawmakers and communicate about important education issues with the public.