Kansas teachers union opposes bill that empowers teachers

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Kansas National Education Association, the state’s teachers union, opposes a bill that empowers teachers.

A bill in the Kansas Senate would give teachers an ongoing voice in determining who represents them in their relationship with their employer. The bill is SB 469, titled “Recertification of professional employees’ organizations under the professional negotiations act.” It would require that the Kansas Department of Labor hold an election each year in each school district regarding whether the current representation should continue. These elections, in effect, would be referendums on the teachers union, by the teachers. (Update: The bill has been revised to call for elections every third year.)

kansas-national-education-assocation-knea-media-response-team-logo-01As you might imagine, Kansas National Education Association and its affiliates like United Teachers of Wichita are not happy that teachers might have an annual opportunity to judge the union, and in a way that has consequences.

We’ve known for a long time that the purpose of teachers unions is to advance the narrow, parochial interests of teachers instead of Kansas schoolchildren, parents, and taxpayers. Now we see that the leadership of the union is more concerned with the existence of the union and their highly-paid jobs. Who cares what teachers think?

As it turns out, the union believes it knows what teachers think. In a message, the Kansas teachers union writes: “So, in short, anyone who works in our schools — board members, superintendents, administrators, and teachers — all oppose the bill.” I’d like to know how the union knows that everyone opposes the bill. The union might be surprised to learn there are teachers who are opposed to the union. These teachers, as professional employees, might not like working under rules more suited for blue-collar labor. These teachers might not like being paid according to a schedule that pays bad teachers the same as the good. They might not like being associated with an organization that promotes a false assessment of Kansas schools that is harmful to Kansas schoolchildren. These teachers might like to work in a charter school, something that the teachers union fights. There are even more reasons why Kansas schoolteachers might not like being associated with the Kansas National Education Association and its affiliates like United Teachers of Wichita.