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NEA challenged on political outlays - Teacher's union fields "army of campaign workers"***As much as one-third of the tax-exempt National Education Association's yearly $271 million income goes toward politically related activities, according to union documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The documents show that the 2.7 million-member teacher's union spends millions annually to field what one critic calls an "army of campaign workers," while maintaining that it spends nothing on politics.

The NEA has avoided millions of dollars in federal and D.C. income taxes every year for political activities that are not tax-exempt, says the Landmark Legal Foundation, a Herndon-based public-interest group that has asked the IRS to investigate and recoup the money. ***

TEACHERS BACK GORE WITH MONEY, MUSCLE *** Comer is just one reason that teachers are considered one of the most powerful and effective interest groups in presidential politics. Months before most other Democratic constituencies began organizing, the NEA was in the field. Now, in the general election, Comer and the NEA are organizing again to help Gore try to beat Texas Governor George W. Bush the way he beat Bradley during the primaries.

From their top union leaders in Washington to their 16,000 local associations and 2.5 million members in cities and towns, the teachers are involved in every aspect of the 2000 presidential race.

''As far back as I can remember, a significant portion of all convention delegates were members of NEA,'' said Ross K. Baker, a Rutgers University political science professor. ''They were certainly the group that Jimmy Carter mobilized in 1976, and they have been a major element of every winning coalition of every Democratic nominee.''

Unlike President Clinton, Baker said, Gore has hewed close to the needs and desires of the teachers as he seeks their help in his campaign. And Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that if Gore wins, there will be a payoff for teachers unions. ***