Several months ago my brother-in-law, a High School History teacher, was explaining to me the frustrations he has felt over the past few years dealing with the teachers union. Like many Republican teachers he and my sister, also a high school teacher, routinely saw money deducted from their pay and given to political causes with which they disagreed. Since our casual conversation he found the California Teacher Freedom Project through the California Public Policy Center and was asked to describe his experience in a column. The California Teacher Freedom Project has become a great resource for teachers who find themselves in a similar situation.
Below is the column that was published in the Ventura County Star by my brother-in-law Gabriel Enriquez on January 5th:
Teachers Pay to Protect Sex Offenders over Child Safety
In 2012 the California Assembly rejected a bill to give school boards the final authority to dismiss teachers accused of “serious and egregious” conduct, including abusing a child with sex, drugs, or violence. This proposal came after LAUSD agreed to pay teacher, Mark Berndt of Miramonte Elementary School, $40,000 after he had been charged with 23 counts of lewd acts with children. Laws protecting criminal teachers are so extreme that school districts are paying child abusing teachers tens of thousands of dollars because it is cheaper than firing them.
Six members of the assembly education committee, all of whom are beholden to the teachers union, killed the bill that would expedite the firing of teachers like Berndt. Over $100,000 in dues paid by teachers went to support the campaigns of these six assembly members. This included $15,000 to my representative, Das Williams, of Santa Barbara. These legislators are in the pockets of the teachers unions. They protect teachers’ jobs at all costs, even to the detriment of children. This is just one example of how state legislators have placed the union’s agenda ahead of students’ needs.
I grew so angry knowing that my money was being used to protect teachers accused of horrendous acts. Every year I was involuntarily contributing over $300 for political causes such as this, as part of my union dues. Multiply this number by the 300,000 plus teachers in the state of California who pay union dues, and it’s clear that thousands of teachers are contributing money to political causes with which they disagree.
I felt powerless, not knowing about the options I had to avoid paying the political portion of my dues. As far as I knew, my high school was a closed shop, so I was forced to pay dues to my local union, the California Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.
After doing some digging and asking some questions, I realized that I had options. Though I would still be forced to pay for the costs of collective bargaining, I could resign from the union and become an “agency fee payer.” This would allow me to be reimbursed for the political portion of my dues. The consequence for this is that I can no longer vote for union contracts and I have lost my union paid liability insurance. However, this is worth the price so that my money will no longer support teachers who hurt children.
Recently I discovered how to go about leaving the union through the California Teacher Freedom Project. It is a great resource that provided me with information about my rights as well as alternative sources for the liability insurance I lost upon becoming an “agency fee payer.” So in September, I wrote a letter to my local union president and officially resigned from the union.
Teachers unions have been able to maintain their power in part through their control of information. I had to become outraged and search for ways to stop paying to protect sex offenders. Nobody told me that I had a choice to opt out of my union. The only way to discourage the teachers unions from protecting sex offenders is for its members to wake up, get educated, and take action. Union members must use their legal rights to refuse to make political contributions to politicians and causes that protect child predators.
Gabriel Enriquez is a 10th grade World History teacher at Santa Paula Unified School District and recently became an agency fee payer.