Snohomish Times Newspaper: Snohomish News Story

Opinion, Letters & Your Stories

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Union Dues Divert Education Funds from Schools

One of the main news items reported at the end of this years legislative session in Olympia was that lawmakers had sharply cut K-12 education funding. Education was cut, however, only in relation to future planned spending. Compared to recent actual spending, state lawmakers increased education funding from $12.9 billion in 2009-2011 to $13.7 billion in 2011-13. This represents an increase of $789 million to educate just under one million students attending some 2,011 public schools.

Still, much of education spending is not directed to helping children learn. Only 59 cents of every education dollar reaches the classroom, and one-third of public school students drop out before graduation. One of the greatest cost drivers in public education is the collective bargaining process between the local teachers union and the school district. A new report by WPC's Center for Education director Liv Finne describes how secret collective bargaining negotiations and mandatory union dues divert education funding from public schools. Liv's research found that:

Education funding is diverted from public schools to ensure the financial stability of public sector unions.
State law and collective bargaining agreements require school officials to deduct dues from teachers paychecks for transfer to union bank accounts.
Teachers may not opt out of the automatic payment arrangement.
Teachers typically pay around $900 per year each in mandatory union dues.

The report looks at the financial information for the Washington Education Association, as well as school districts in Bellevue, Bellingham, Edmonds, Everett, Federal Way, Kennewick, Kent, Lake Washington, Spokane, Tacoma, and Vancouver.

Read Union Dues Divert Education Funds from Schools.

Liv Finne - Seattle

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