The National Education Association (NEA) & American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are two major teacher organizations in the nation. Both organizations are very similar because they both try to benefit teacher’s working conditions, improve salaries and much more, but there are differences between the two companies. The NEA has about 3 million members in the organization and the AFT has about 1.5 million people. Both organizations provide very similar benefits, but AFT provides them on a smaller scale. The NEA having more members can be used as a political force for teachers. Free legal services, publications and professional growth opportunities are provided by each organization. These organizations are going to play a major role in my lifetime, especially when I am first starting out my teaching career. I understand that I will not have the protection of tenure and that these organizations can help take pressures off of feeling vulnerable. Also an aspiring teacher I am going to want to keep up to date and gather as much knowledge as possible through meetings, publications, etc. As a future teacher I understand that there is always knowledge to gain and by being a part of an organization I will be able to further my knowledge as a teacher. In my lifetime I am sure that there are going to be changes to teaching careers, whether it be pay or retirement plans. Being a part of big organizations like these will help protect myself and other teams from unfair changes to a teacher’s career or retirement plan.
