Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Did you know how much public schools support teachers unions?

I knew that public schools paid teacher salaries, and that teachers unions took a cut. But I hadn't know how many other ways public schools are supporting teachers unions. Dave, of Friends of Dave, found a list of ways that Taxpayers Subsidize Teachers Unions from a column by David White:

1) Teachers who opt out of the union are still required to pay the union a fee, automatically deduced from their check.
2) Paid leaves for union business.
3) Time at staff meetings to conduct union business.
4) Using school district email and internal mail delivery for union business.


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2 comments:

Wisteria said...

Yes! When I taught in the Chicago Public School system, I opted out of the union because I believed that it protected bad teachers and I preferred to be a part of a professional association rather than a union associated with the Teamsters and all that entailed. I had to pay a portion of the dues and I was harassed frequently by the Union representatives in the school. I felt their anger and manipulation were counter-productive to my goals as a professional teacher.

Obviously, I was not impressed by my years in the public schools since I have chosen to teach my children at home.

Henry Cate said...

I had heard about the first way, that teachers had to pay the union a few.

I was surprised at the other three ways that unions recieved support from schools.