By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org

ALPINE, Utah – Cole Kelly, a teacher and athletic director for the Alpine School District in Utah, testified in February in favor of proposed legislation that would penalize school districts for not granting all teacher organizations—not just unions—equal access to teachers.

A week later he was fired. When he asked why, his principal reluctantly admitted that although she approved of his job performance, she was facing pressure from the district to release him because of his testimony.

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Of course that means the local teachers union was upset about his testimony, and probably used its immense influence to move him along.

Other teachers privately reached out to Kelly in support, but were disinclined to speak publicly due to fear of being “blackballed” by the union. Upon the advice of the Association of American Educators (AAE), Kelly is challenging his release and attempting to document the union’s retaliatory tactics.

Cole’s story is just one of many troubling tales outlined in a special report from School Reform News titled, ” Bullying Teachers:  How Teachers Unions Secretly Push Teachers and Competitors Around.”

Teachers unions have engaged in aggressive behavior towards dissenting teachers and competing organizations for decades, according to the report. The idea is to coerce teachers into quietly accepting union membership and keep competitors at a safe distance.

Thus far their tactics have been frighteningly successful. The unions have been able to maintain the huge flow of dollars they receive through dues payments, and have used that money to purchase influence in Washington, D.C. and in statehouses across the nation.

That’s why school reform efforts are frequently shot down during the legislative process. The unions know how to gain and maintain power, and they know how to use it.

Nonunion associations meet closed doors

For decades the nation’s two largest teachers unions – the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers  – have maintained a monopoly on access to public school teachers. Most school districts around the nation formally recognize their local NEA or AFT affiliates as the exclusive representatives of teachers, and new teachers are forced to accept membership if they want a job.

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In recent years alternative teacher organizations have offered themselves as more moderate options to the very political and combative unions. The Association of American Educators is a good example.

While providing many of the same benefits, such as liability insurance, professional development grants, and legal representation, AAE does not spend its members’ dues on partisan politics, a bonus for the many teachers who disagree with their union’s liberal agenda. Moreover, its fees are a fraction of what union members pay in dues each year.

While membership numbers for non-union organizations are growing, their recruiting efforts are crippled by an uneven playing field that grossly favors the unions.

Nonunion teacher organizations are routinely denied access to events where teachers gather, the ability to deduct their fees from school payrolls, post flyers in teachers’ lounges, or use school mailboxes to deliver letters.

“Denial of equal access is by far the most frequent discrimination practiced against nonunion teacher associations,” the report said.

In Utah, Senate Bill 82 was designed to require equal access for all professional teacher organizations. It would have given nonunion organizations the right to distribute information, attend employee orientations and solicit membership. Failure to provide equal access would have resulted in fines for the school district.

Despite having strong support in the Senate, SB 82 eventually died in the state House after the teachers unions got wind of it and flexed their political muscle. After the bill’s demise, AAE’s Charity Smith noted, “For the union to dispute it so strongly shows that equal access is not being upheld because the current system must be favorable or they wouldn’t lobby for it.”

Similar bills in Colorado, Idaho, and Kansas were all tabled after the unions lobbied against them.

“School boards have to deal with the teachers unions, and it can be very punishing,” acknowledges Cindy Omlin, executive director of Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE). If a school district provides equal access, the union threatens to retaliate, placing the school district in a precarious situation, she said.

As a result, “[most schools don’t give] even the courtesy of responding and saying no,” Smith said.

Manipulated into submission

Teachers unions across the country frequently use indirect acts of social aggression to retain their membership and power, according to the report.

They inhibit teachers from joining or advocating for competing associations and “place themselves within every crevice of the teaching profession to ensure (continued domination),” the report said.

Their motivation is clearly financial.

Union dues are often $50 per month or more. Members of the California Teachers Association pay nearly $650 annually in member dues. If you multiply that by 340,000 teachers, it’s a great deal of money. Losing members to alternative organizations can be very costly for the unions, so they do whatever they can to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Teachers who speak out against the unions are usually ostracized. In Idaho, the local union blocked a teacher from becoming a principal after he publicly indicated support for nonunion teachers, according to the report.

Another teacher who accepted a $500 NWPE professional development grant was chastised by her union president for accepting a competing organization’s money. That kind of treatment makes others think twice about questioning the status quo. If nobody is brave enough to go on the record with complaints about the unions, it’s hard to make them stick, according to the report.

An email from a Colorado teacher summed the situation up perfectly: “[The state union is] a large and powerful organization…I want to speak out against them, but I am afraid of the repercussions that I will face as a result and also the possibility of them doing something to make me lose my job.”

The unions also promote member loyalty by constantly creating adversarial relationships between teachers and school administrators, according to the report. When the school principal is a long-term enemy, there is only one place for teachers to turn.

“It’s classic unionism,” said Tim Farmer, membership director of the Professional Association of Colorado Educators. “The union has done a good job of creating a chasm between the administration and teachers. Most teachers would tell you they’re terrified of having their administrator have the power to hire and fire them…The whole system is set up in a way to make teachers feel like they need a union.”

The entire union system in public education is very Machiavellian—it is better to be feared than loved. In that type of an environment, nobody wins, except for union leaders. Teaching is a tough job and teachers deserve some support. If unions were really pro-teacher, they would stop bullying them into conformity and pay attention to their needs.

Alternative organizations are ready and willing to play that role, but the system keeps them outside looking in. Until they gain more access, the unions will maintain their power and public education will continue to suffer.