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You are no longer required to pay any money to a teachers union!
Released in June, 2019, an important poll commissioned by the Teacher Freedom Project revealed that 77 percent of teachers have never even heard of the Janus decision, now a year old, and 52 percent don’t know that they are no longer required to pay a union to keep their teaching job. The survey also shows that a sizable number of teachers are uninformed about the source of many of their professional benefits. Almost a third think that they would not be covered by their union’s collective bargaining unit contract should they quit. Almost a quarter think they’d lose their tenure protections, and 18 percent think they’d lose their health insurance – all untrue.
To see all the results of the Teacher Freedom Project poll, go here.
On June 27, 2018 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the Janus v. AFSCME case. The decision means that no public school teacher or any other government worker in the U.S. has to pay money to a union as a condition of employment.
Effective immediately, nonmember agency fee or fair share payers should have no more money taken from their monthly checks by their school district and union. CTA has sent a letter stating as such. If anyone has not received this missive, please let us know and we will email you a copy. We have not seen nor heard about any such communication from CFT, however. If any AFT/CFT agency fee payer has received a “sayonara” letter from that union, please scan and email a copy to CTEN.
Because agency fee payer status is now a thing of the past, there is no need to send in a yearly rebate/objection letter any more. (The yearly letter required to be submitted by November 15th each year applied to the existing school year in which it was submitted.)
While you will lose liability insurance and legal representation if you leave the union, there are alternative ways to secure this coverage. You can join the Association of American Educators (www.aaeteachers.org) or the Christian Educators Association International (www.ceai.org) for your insurance and legal needs. These are professional organizations, not unions. Also, teachers who mention CTEN when they sign up with AAE for the first time will get a $30 discount off the regular $198 first year membership.
CTEN now accepts donations via PayPal. If you are willing to help CTEN with a tax deductible gift, please go here.
National School Choice Week is time that is set aside to shine a positive spotlight on the need for effective education options for all children . To learn more, go here.
California Independent Teachers is a local-only, independent alternative to your teachers union. For more info, go here.
CTEN conducted an internal poll on Common Core.
CTEN now has a blog. Please go here to access it.
CTEN is now on Facebook! If you have a Facebook account, please go here.
Please visit our new ACT NOW! page to see what you can do to stand up for children's interests and take action against the NEA and its affiliates.