By Kyle Olson
EAGnews.org
    
INDIANAPOLIS – When teachers have a choice, large numbers of them frequently decide not to be members of labor unions. Just look at the teachers’ new-found choice in Wisconsin – union membership will reportedly decline by as much as one-third.
      
In Indiana, where teachers have had a choice for many years, there is a sudden mass exodus away from the union.
     
According to internal sources at the Indiana State Teachers Association, membership has dropped by more than 20 percent – from 50,032 in 2010-11 to 39,922 in 2011-12.
     
Last school year, ISTA’s dues were $500. That means in one year alone, ISTA has lost over $5 million in dues revenue.
     
That loss only further complicates the union’s fiscal condition. National Education Association financial reports state the parent union has loaned the ISTA more than $13.3 million due to mismanagement at the local level.

We would be shocked if the NEA ever sees a dime of that money in return.