ASK ME HOW YOU CAN HELP DAMAGE THE NEA --- the wholly owned subsidiary of the DNC

dfu | 7-7-04 | dfu

[Phantom Lord]

DFU, I would reverse it. The DNC is wholly owned by the NEA

[ElectricStrawberry]

Seems like a career ender to me....unions can be ruthless.

[texgal]

I too have helped some of my daughter's friends who are teachers to get their funds sent to someone other than the candidates the NEA supports. Many teachers only belong so they can get their insurance to protect them against lawsuits.

[cripplecreek]

If you look at the damage done to the catholic church in America by the sex abuse scandal, I would suggest spreading the word about the much more widespread sexual abuse in our schools.

[PhiKapMom]

You don't have to belong to the union. Here in OK, a lot of our teachers are part of a National Teacher's Organization that is not a union. They do not belong to NEA and so they don't have to worry about their money going into that cesspool.

We have some really good teachers too and when you ask them, they belong to the Teacher's Organization not the Union has been my experience.

[2banana]

When you really think about it, as government employess, it is tax payer money...

[Phantom Lord]

Many teachers only belong so they can get their insurance to protect them against lawsuits.

And many more belong because to keep their job, or get it in the first place they have to join.

[doug from upland]

A teacher can remain in the union for the insurance. One I helped got back about $300 of her $700 dues. Also, there is other insurance available.

[redpoll]

The union can be a career-ender depending on where you are. When I was in California, I was once teaching a fourth-grader how to read after hours. The time was 4:20 p.m. My union rep walked in and asked me what I was doing; I told him that I was tutoring the student. He told me that the contract was from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. When I protested that my job was to teach, he told me, "You don't want to cause any trouble here." I left that district at the end of the year. In my new district, the union is weak enough so most staff are not members. The only reason to join the union is to obtain harassment insurance, and that can be obtained in other places, too. There are 100,000 school districts in the United States... my advice to a teacher disgusted with the union is to vote with his feet. I've even talked with the state rep here about the one-party stance of the NEA, and he glumly conceded the problem. In this state, the NEA doesn't support candidates anymore, although their stance on issues is still biased toward the Left. Many teachers I know are fed up with the union... I suspect the same thing is true with the rank-and-file of other unions supporting Democrats. My solution was simply not to be a member. Hasn't hurt me one bit in this district. I can see where it would be harmful elsewhere, though.

[dead]

Can you put up any more details?

My wife is currently on maternity leave, but she's been paying those dues for about seven years now.

[pfflier]

Many teachers only belong so they can get their insurance to protect them against lawsuits.

Many of not all states have apolitical teacher organizations that offer the same insurance options.

I am a member of AZPE (Arizona Professional Educators). They do not endorse candidates or platforms and they have better insurance coverage than the NEA, at one third the membership price.

[TontoKowalski]

Hell, Doug, they can ask me, too.

We homeschool!

[doug from upland]

Demand that the union give you a form to make a written request for a refund of that portion of the dues that are used for political purposes. If they refuse, call Marsha Richards at Evergreen Freedom Foundation -- (360) 956-3482.

One of my friends actually had three union thugs come to pay her a visit to talk her out of it. She was not intimidated and got her refund.

[doug from upland]

	Teacher union's political spending targeted March 12, 2003 • Miami Herald • Sonji Jacobs

TALLAHASSEE - Florida's teachers union got a dose of what its leaders call political payback from Republicans on Tuesday when a Senate committee approved a bill that would ban using dues collected from its members through employee payroll deduction for political purposes.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, the bill's sponsor, argued that teachers should have more choice in determining how their payroll deductions are spent.

''When dues are taken out of their paychecks, they don't have a choice of where their money is going to go as far as political candidates and campaigns,'' Fasano said.

This is only a first step for Fasano, who has to take his bill to several more committees before it reaches the Senate floor.

Supporters of the bill argued that the state's looming teacher shortage and the existence of only one teachers union in the state make the bill essential for the Florida Education Association -- and not other labor organizations.

The FEA has been criticized for its close alliance with the state's Democratic Party. The union poured more than $3 million into a campaign to oust Gov. Jeb Bush in favor of Bill McBride during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

Maureen Dinnen, president of the FEA, said Fasano's bill was Republican revenge for the union's support of McBride and other Democrats.

''It is a boldface political retribution because we chose to back a candidate that we thought was going to help quality education,'' Dinnen said. ``It is saying the teachers of Florida should have no voice in the political world of the state of Florida.''

Teachers who disagree with the union don't have to join, Dinnen said, because Florida is a right-to-work state where union membership is voluntary.

Dinnen said she left messages for Bush and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings on Monday but did not receive a call back by Tuesday morning's Senate hearing.

The Senate Governmental Operations and Productivity Committee cast votes for the bill on strictly partisan lines. All of the Republican committee members supported the bill; the three Democrats present opposed it.

FOR BETTER PAY

''Why aren't we here talking about getting better pay for teachers so we won't have this doggone shortage in our state instead of spending our time discriminating against one segment of the community because of political reasons?'' asked Sen. Les Miller, D-Tampa. ``This is wrong. This is ugly.''

Sen. Alfred Lawson Jr., D-Tallahassee, questioned the fairness of the bill in specifically targeting teachers unions and not other labor organizations.

But Fasano argued that he received e-mails from several teachers who expressed misgivings about the current system of dues. Fasano read one from a teacher who said the FEA had been deceptive to members during the 2002 campaign.

The teacher also questioned whether the FEA remortgaged its headquarters building to raise funds for McBride's political campaign.

`IT WAS A LIE'

''What he's saying is unfounded information,'' Dinnen said.

``It was a lie. We did not remortgage for the political campaign.''

She explained that when the FEA merged from two unions into one in 2000, the union took out a mortgage to move to a single financial institution.

Critics of the teachers union on Tuesday charged that nearly 80 percent of fees go to non-workplace-related issues, a charge that Dinnen said was ``absolutely false.''

''We support professional development and a whole range of issues that have nothing to do with politics,'' Dinnen said.

``Political action or government relations is one of the particular departments within our union.''

This isn't the first time that teachers' dues have become an issue.

In 2001, former state Education Commissioner Charlie Crist threatened to withhold state funding from school districts that deduct union dues -- a portion of which is often used to support union-friendly political candidates -- from teachers' paychecks.

Former Attorney General Bob Butterworth then said school districts aren't breaking the law by deducting union dues from teachers' paychecks.

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[dead]

Thanks Doug! Appreciate the info.

[GrandEagle]

The only reason to join the union is to obtain harassment insurance,
My sister has taught in LA and now in AK. That is the problem that she ran into. Buck the union and one way or another you are out.

[SpyGuy]

In addition to what Doug mentioned, the NEA is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (www.dsausa.org). That should give everyone pause to think!

[doug from upland]

MORE BACKGROUND

[doug from upland]

Please let us know what happens when you call the union and ask for the form.