A National Education Association scheme to launder dues money from a “children’s fund” into the union’s political action committee is obviously unacceptable and warrants a thorough investigation.

     But when two Alabama educators who were scammed by the union filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, the agency dismissed the charges without a field investigation, citing in part a lack of funds to enforce the law, according to the National Right to Work Foundation.

     Daphne, Alabama middle school teacher Claire Waites and assistant principal Jeanne Fox said union officials assured the women that contributions made in their names to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education were not political.

     The two later learned their donations actually went to the union’s PAC, and contributed to Barak Obama’s presidential campaign. The fraud occurred at the union’s 2008 annual convention in Washington, DC, nrtw.org reports.

     It’s illegal to encourage or solicit contributions under false pretenses. Federal law also prohibits campaign contributions made in another person’s name, according to nrtw.org.

     The NRTWF is now encouraging other educators who donated to step forward and join Waites and Fox to pursue legal action against the nation’s largest teachers union.

    “The FEC made a conscious decision to not take these charges seriously,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We suspect this scheme could involve many more teachers – potentially to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

     We find it appalling that the NEA would swindle its own members to promote its political interests, but we are hardly surprised to learn it is happening. It is exactly these types of unscrupulous union tactics that allow the NEA to maintain a chokehold on the nation’s education system. It is also perfect example of the government’s unwillingness to do anything about it.

     NEA teachers, and the citizens who pay their salaries, must demand that the union is held accountable for its misdeeds. It is, after all, taxpayer dollars that bankroll the NEA.

     We also commend Waites and Fox for bringing the rip-off to light, and encourage other teachers to join their efforts to hold the union responsible, and prevent it from happening again.