Q&A of the Day – Is Participation in Teachers’ Unions Declining?
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Today’s entry: Thanks for fighting the good fight against the teachers’ unions! My question is if it is working? With so many teachers – even in Florida – still in a union it seems like not a lot has changed.
Bottom Line: Yeah, I hear you. As I’ve frequently mentioned in discussing these issues, including as recently as yesterday, 72% of Florida’s public-school teachers remain members of a union whose parent is the American Federation of Teachers. A union which has donated 99.9% of its members’ money to Democrats and which just this week said this on the record regarding Governor DeSantis: A positive agenda focused on investing in schools – putting values into action – is the only response to the hurt and hate pedaled by the likes of the Florida governor. Despite DeSantis delivering record teacher pay increases, including record starting teacher pay and bonuses – it's clear Florida’s parent teachers’ union is far more interested in their political agenda than their members. And it’s long been an agenda reliant on parents not paying attention to what’s happening in the classroom. So, about the whole union participation thing. And that leads to the bigger picture conversation.
There’s a reason anarchists pushed the “defund the police movement”. It’s not complicated. Without financial resources, police won’t be able to perform their work. On the opposite side of the political spectrum, that’s essentially my message with teachers’ unions. In order to reduce their influence, they need to be defunded. Because they’re allowed to collectively bargain against the public that employs public school teachers, the only way this happens is when teachers choose to reject the overt political agenda of these organizations. That’s been the biggest shift in my messaging over the past year. It’s important to note that even if a teacher is well intended, if they’re a member of a union, they’re choosing to be part of the problem. It’s also meant as an additional wake-up call to many parents. While great teachers are worth their weight in gold. There are many, if not most, who are all about the political agenda of the American Federation of Teachers and are more than happy to assert it in classrooms given the opportunity. The somewhat uncomfortable reality, as I’ve covered occasionally over the years, is that most teachers, 79%, are in fact Democrats or Democrat leaners politically. A figure which grows to around 90% for college professors. So yes, to your point, the effort to reduce the influence of the unions in public education is a bit of an uphill battle as most who are part of the union, would seemingly by way of political preference, agree with the political agenda of their union. That said, progress is being made.
The most recent data on membership participation in teachers' unions is from last year. In 2021, total participation in teachers’ unions dropped by 2.2%, or 81,826 teachers nationally. There were declines in participation in 46 states (Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island and West Virginia all saw increases in participation). The percentage isn’t huge but the number of teachers is meaningful. What’s even more encouraging, Florida’s teachers were 2nd in the country in defecting from their union. Last year 4,514 Florida teachers, or 3.3%, dropped their union. In addition to having the 2nd highest total number of teachers defecting, it was also the fourth highest percentage of teachers who opted out. It’s clear there’s a movement in Florida which is greater than the country overall. But here’s the rub in terms of financial influence. It actually grew. Teacher salaries have been rising rapidly across the country. As a result, the American Federation of Teachers saw increased revenue of 6% last year. So, this is a case of one step forward and a half step backward.
What’s interesting is that teachers’ unions have been held in a net negative view in the eyes of most Americans since 2014 – when Harvard polling first found by a margin of 43% to 32% - voters view the unions negatively. And that leads to the broader point. The difference between 2014 and today specific to this issue, is the public’s level of attention and action on educational issues. Union membership needs to continue to be one of the areas of focus. Like any number of issues, if they’re not addressed, meaningful change isn’t achieved. But if parents question their children’s teachers about their potential participation in a union...one which donates 99.9% of their money to Democrats, that supports CRT and sexualization young children in the classroom and spews of derogatory material about our governor... It just may cause them to think twice about their participation. And the response(s) can also provide a window of insight into their mindset.