When the nation's largest teachers' union convenes in Los Angeles for its annual meeting, the membership news will ring happier than in 2004. Then, the National Education Association's count of active-teacher members was down for the first time in 18 years, according to union officials. But over the past year, that number has grown by about 20,000, according to Carmen Quesada, who guides membership strategy for the 2.8 million-member union. The upturn is no accident. After relying heavily on the growth produced by more teachers coming into the profession, the national organization has hatched new plans in the past few years for building membership. Union leaders see increasing the base as crucial, particularly in the current political climate, in which many of the NEA's allies have lost power and its enemies have seized on the opportunity to strike deeper at the union's clout. Unlike the other membership categories, working teachers pay top-dollar dues to the NEA and its 50 state affiliates. They also carry the most weight in public opinion. Lately, though, membership growth has flattened and, in important measure, been sustained by nonteachers. Mergers with American Federation of Teachers affiliates have also brought new members into the NEA fold, but without raising the total unionization of the teacher workforce. The emphasis on membership this time around has been paired with approaches that recognize a new era for organizing: get out more to the grassroots and identify specific situations in states, districts and schools that can be used to add members.