Welcome to
INDEPENDENT TEACHERS
Providing information to Colorado public school employees on the range of union membership and other options available to them.
Teachers who are members of the Colorado Education Association (CEA) are eligible for as much as $91 in annual political refunds through the Every Member Option (EMO) program. The CEA raises political funds through a structure known as EMO. In 2023-24, $43 is deducted from the yearly earnings of every full-time member teacher (part-time member teachers and support personnel pay a lesser amount) to fund the EMO, which exclusively finances local and state political campaigns. (Some locals deduct additional dollars for the local EMO.)
CEA members who wish to receive an EMO refund must submit their requests in writing by DECEMBER 15. CEA local associations that have a refundable EMO require a separate request for a refund. Local EMOs are as much as $48.
To find the CEA EMO refund information, please visit the Political Refunds page.