NYSUT has been squeezed along with the school districts that employ its members, said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute. He said NYSUT has a direct financial interest in lifting the cap.

“The union exists to deliver benefits to its members, including pay increases,” he said. “Their focus all the time is getting more and the tax cap limits the more.”

On paper, the union reported a $30 million deficit on its most recent 990 IRS form. Union officials say that cash shortfall was really less than $8 million. Either way, it’s a flow of red ink that union officials acknowledge continues today.

NYSUT has 600,000 members. It estimates 35,000 educators have lost jobs since 2008 as school districts across the state laid off staff, a process expected to accelerate under tax cap restrictions.

NYSUT had 507 employees as of August 2012, including 26 who worked part time. The forms show the total amount the union spent on salaries, benefits and other compensation rose to $110 million from $96 million in a year, according to its most recent 990 IRS form, which is dated September 2010 to August 2011.

About 300 employees earned gross salaries of more than $100,000, according to NYSUT’s latest federal LM-2 disclosure forms, dated September 2011 to August 2012. Of that number, about 15 employees earned more than $200,000.

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