2010 - Independent Teachers

14 Sep

Right now, it’s the heart of political season. That means some teacher organizations — the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — are actively involved in contributing member funds to various campaigns. (Other teacher organizations do not collect or distribute member money for political contributions.) As Ed News Colorado reports today with a dog bites man headline: “Union contributions mount up.”

Through September 1, here’s an updated overview of how the two unions have spent on political action for the current 2010 election cycle (all information provided by reports on the Colorado Secretary of State’s campaign finance database). First, CEA and its local affiliates have given:

$494,015 to progressive and Democratic 527 and 501c4 political action groups
$260,110 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
$1,500 to a Republican organization (but no candidates) — That’s one dollar to Republicans for every 173 dollars to Democrats

And now the AFT:

$63,980 to progressive and Democratic 527 and 501c4 political action groups
$50,000 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
$0 to Republicans

Added together, Colorado teachers unions have contributed 99.8 percent of their combined political spending for 2010 to one party: the Democrats. Somehow, I’m guessing that CEA and AFT members won’t vote this year in quite the same proportion. Where’s the balance?

Check out our political contributions page for some context, to see how imbalanced teachers union political giving is even by recent historical standards.

1 Sep

September Main Time Colorado School Employees Can Opt Out of Union Dues or Non-Member Fees

Tracy

Membership Revocations

September has arrived. For teachers and other employees in many Colorado schools, the busy season continues. But today also marks the beginning of the short time frame in which union members in several school districts can choose to opt out of a year’s worth of union dues (and in a few cases — as our recent video about Colorado teachers unions pointed out — for non-union members to opt out of paying hundreds of dollars in union fees).

Some districts allow teachers and other employees to opt in or out of unions and other membership organizations at any time. In other districts, though, opt-out periods are limited to as little as 7 days or as much as 3 months. Here are the school districts where opt-out periods begin today, with procedures for those who choose to follow them, as well as the official deadline:

16 Aug

Video: Unions Abuse Non-Union Teacher Paychecks

Tracy

Colorado Education Association, Membership Revocations

Check out this new Independent Teachers video about what happens when a non-union school employee who is forced to opt out of paying union fees every year misses the deadline because of family medical emergencies:

From the YouTube summary:

Due to family medical hardships, non-union Pueblo school employee Becky Robertson missed an annual deadline to opt out of union fee paycheck deductions. The union rejected her appeal. Though she had chosen not to be a union member, Becky ended up paying the union hundreds of dollars that could have been used for medical bills and other expenses. Why do Colorado laws allow this type of abuse to continue?

Which Colorado school district employees are affected by union fee opt-out policies for non-union members?

2 Aug

Colorado Teacher Membership Opt-Out Periods Coming in August and September

Tracy

Membership Options, Membership Revocations

August has arrived — which not only means that the new school year for most Colorado students lies just around the corner, but also opens a short window of time for many Colorado teachers to make important decisions.

Teachers and other education employees in Colorado of course have a variety of professional and union membership options from which to choose. Many of those options allow teachers to join or to drop out throughout the year. But in some cases, the only time they can revoke membership is during a short window.

Some of these opt-out periods begin in August, and most end in September. (A few deadlines are in October or November.) In a handful of school districts, employees who never signed up to join a union have to opt out, too. It’s always good to be aware of these deadlines so teachers and others can make the most informed choices about their membership options.

25 May

Texas Blazes Trail for Protecting Teachers from Automatic Political Payroll Deductions

Tracy

Political Contributions

Former teacher Larry Sand reports that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has enacted a policy protecting teachers in the Lone Star State from automatic payroll deductions to political action committees.

Members of the Texas State Teachers Association who want to give to their organization’s political agenda still have the right and the convenient access to make contributions directly. Kudos to Mr. Abbott for using his authority to take the government out of the role as middleman in political contributions and empower teachers to make individual choices that suit them best.

Someone closely involved with the situation gives the history behind the new policy.

What’s good for teachers in Texas just might also be good for teachers in Colorado, don’t you think?

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