DO TEACHERS REALLY NEED A UNION? After wading through all the leftwing blather, I can’t help but wonder why any conservative, libertarian, right-leaning, centrist or apolitical teacher would continue to belong to a teachers union. In California, when a teacher joins a local union, she typically forks over about $1,200 yearly. If the union is an NEA affiliate, $768 will go to the California Teachers Association and $204 will be sent off to NEA command central in D.C. The remaining $200 or so stays at the local level. Much of the money that goes to CTA/NEA is spent on leftwing politics, and every penny of the unions’ income is tax-free.
Educators don’t get much for their $1,200 yearly dues.
In the aughts, after blindly being a dues-paying National Education Association member for years, I opened my eyes, and discovered that I’d been wasting my money. The teachers unions were primarily about politics, all of which went in a leftward direction. One in-your-face example at the time was at the Democratic Convention in 2008, where NEA president Reg Weaver spoke. His opening words were, “I am here today on behalf of 3.2 million NEA members to tell you why we support Barack Obama for President of the United States.” It sounded as if all 3.2 million members of the NEA were backing Obama. Then in his last sentence, he left no doubt. “That, my friends, is why the 3.2 million members of the National Education Association are organized, energized and mobilized to help elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States of America.”