HARRISBURG, Pa. – The number of unionized Pennsylvania school teachers is on the decline, and some believe it’s due to the Pennsylvania State Education Association’s partisan political activities.

“I didn’t know that local money filtered outside of our district to support a politically driven national agenda that doesn’t serve the teaching community,” Ellwood City Area School District teacher John Cress told TribLive.com.

A recent report issued by the Commonwealth Foundation’s Free to Teach project shows the number of teachers who have opted out of the union has grown from 5,662 last year from about 5,314 in 2011. Those who opt out, but continue to teach, must pay an “agency fee” to the union to cover alleged benefits they receive from collective bargaining. The “agency fee” is $450, as opposed to the full $696 union membership.

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Free to Teach director Brittney Parker told the news site that “when teachers see how the PSEA is spending their money, it’s no surprise many are deeply concerned with continuing to watch dues dollars automatically deducted from their paychecks.”

She said roughly 36 cents of every dollar is spent on “political, ideological and other related activities,” and about 45 cents goes toward union operations. Only about 17 cents on the dollar is spent on collective bargaining and other work that directly impacts teachers.

Free to Teach points out that PSEA membership has plummeted from 192,032 in 2011 to 179,499 last year.

“It’s an interesting situation right now. On one hand, there is strong interest on the part of the union for more political activity. On the other, a lot of people just don’t want to be a part of that,” University of Pittsburgh business professor James Craft told the news site.

Pennsylvania union officials, of course, blamed the mass exodus of teachers from the union on their favorite scapegoat – education funding.

“PSEA spokesman David Broderic attributed much of the decline to education funding cuts that forced schools to slash personnel,” TribLive reports.

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Free to Teach’s findings on Pennsylvania union membership seems to support an Education Next report released last month that found about half of teachers nationwide oppose “fair share fees,” while only 38 percent support them. The strongest opposition to the fees understandably comes from conservative teachers. Fifty-six percent oppose fair share fees, while only 25 percent are in support, according to the Education Next report.

“Our data indicate that a plurality of people—indeed a decided majority of those with an opinion on the matter—agree with” California teacher Rebecca Friedrichs, a teacher serving as lead plaintiff in a federal Supreme Court case challenging the legality of fair share fees, according to the site.

“Only 34% support agency fees, while 43% oppose them, with the balance taking a neutral position. If we exclude the neutral group, then a clear majority, 56% of those with an opinion, say they want to end mandatory agency fees. This finding comports with the public’s overall opinion of teachers unions, as only 30% of respondents say unions have had a positive effect on schools and 40% say they have had a negative effect,” the study reports.

Education Next pointed out that the Supreme Court in June agreed to hear Friedrichs V. California Teachers Association, a case that could set precedent regarding unions’ ability to force non-members to pay agency fees. Those fees are currently required by law in 21 states and the District of Columbia, according to the site.

The Education Next poll shows that while a slight majority of teachers believe their unions have a positive impact, most agree with Friedrichs that they shouldn’t be forced to pay for collective bargaining services they didn’t request.