Independent Teachers

Please check out a new page posted here on Independent Teachers with information specific to how Colorado teachers can explore adopting the local only union option for their school district.

The annual cost of full-time membership in the teachers union depends on the school district in which you work. For 2008-09, each full-time member pays $363 to the Colorado Education Association and $158 to the National Education Association headquarters. The local portion of union dues vary by location. Here is a sample of the TOTAL dues costs for 2008-09:

• Westminster (Adams 50): $812
• Aurora: $735
• Littleton: $726
• Jefferson County: $725
• Lewis Palmer: $712
• Canon City: $708
• Academy 20: $707

By comparison, members of the Douglas County Federation of Teachers (Colorado’s largest local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers) pay $431 in dues for 2008-09.

Annual membership to join the Professional Association of Colorado Educators is $180.

Annual membership to join Christian Educators Association International is $139.

The Independent Teachers website is not the only place keeping tabs on political contributions made with the professional dues money of Colorado public educators. This week, Ed News Colorado ran a great story by Nancy Mitchell documenting the recent history of campaign-related giving by the Colorado Education Association and its affiliates:

The CEA and its local unions gave more than $600,000 directly to state legislative candidates over the five years, often piling on in tight races. Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, the chair of the Senate Education Committee and one of the top recipients of teachers’ union donations, hit the contribution limit from the statewide CEA and from each of the Denver, Fort Collins and Jefferson County unions in his hard-fought 2004 election victory….

Read more…

Attention, Colorado teachers and other public education employees: Do you belong as a member (or as a non-member fee-payer) to the Colorado Education Association? If so, how much do you know about how your dues money is used? It’s a good question, isn’t it? If you went to the CEA office, or your local union office, and asked to see the financial records from the most recent fiscal year, what would you find out?

Part of your dues money goes directly to the National Education Association ($158 for full-time members in 2008-09). You can learn about the NEA’s revenues and expenditures by going to this official U.S. Department of Labor site, typing 000-342 in the File Number box at the top, and clicking “Submit”.

But $363 of full-time union members’ money goes to CEA. And you know what? CEA is exempt from the requirement to file the Labor Department disclosure. So is your local association and your local UniServ office - where anywhere from another $175 to $290 per year in full-time dues goes.

To dig a little deeper into this issue, please read the new report Setting the Standard for Pro-Worker Transparency (PDF). And take a listen to this 10-minute iVoices podcast interview with the paper’s author Ben DeGrow:

So have you gone down to the CEA or local union office to ask to take a look at the books? If so, what did you find out? Wouldn’t it be easier to see an annual report filed online with a Colorado state agency - something like the reports filed with the U.S. Department of Labor?

Are you a Colorado teacher or other public school employee who finds the information on this site useful? Do you support Colorado public educators who aren’t interested in toeing the teachers union political line, and who appreciate knowing their membership options?

Then you are invited to join Colorado Independent Teachers on Facebook. A link is also available on the sidebar.

Joining the group is a great way to stay up-to-date on membership-related information that affects public school employees here in Colorado. Go here to learn more about Independent Teachers.

The final reports are in for political contributions for 2008. The Colorado Education Association (CEA) and its affiliates narrowly topped one million dollars in giving to political candidates and parties.

Here are the details:

The Colorado Education Association (CEA) and its affiliates, mostly through Every Member Option funds, have reported $1,000,585 in political contributions during the 2007-08 election cycle - including:

* $452,360 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
* $263,500 to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado to support political candidates — Accountability for Colorado is also funded by liberal billionaires from the “Gang of Four”
* $210,000 to the 527 group Colorado Citizens’ Coalition to support “progressive” political candidates
* $9,250 to Republican candidates and party organizations — that’s 1 dollar to Republicans for every 49 dollars to Democrats

Note: This does not include $4,657,810 contributed to the issue committee Protect Colorado’s Future and $1,600,000 to the issue committee Coloradans for Middle Class Relief to oppose three Colorado state ballot initiatives.

And for AFT:

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Colorado has reported $60,275 in political contributions during the current election cycle - including $40,275 to Democratic candidates and party organizations and $0 to Republicans.

As usual, other membership groups that Colorado teachers are eligible to join did not spend any money on the 2008 election because they do not sponsor any committees to fund political action:

• Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE) ($0)
• Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) ($0)
• Teachers Legal Coverage (TLC) ($0)

That closes the book on the 2008 election cycle and the roles of different Colorado teacher organizations. Where did your money go this past year?

In this 2-minute video, a Jefferson County teacher advertises the Independent Teachers site and tells interested Colorado Education Association members how they can get refunds from CEA ($39) and their local unions (as much as $24) before December 15:

To learn how to obtain the political refunds, including a link to the online request form and refund request contact information, go here.

Or you can go directly to CEA’s Every Member Option refund request page here.

The busy Christmas season is upon us. As the winter holiday break rushes closer and closer, members of the Colorado Education Association (CEA) may forget about - if they’re even aware of - the opportunity to receive a refund of the Every Member Option (EMO) political contribution deducted along with their dues.

To get back the $39 EMO from CEA, members can go here to this simple online request form.

You can find more information on the CEA refund - or separate EMO refunds available to CEA members in Jefferson County ($24), Denver ($24), Adams 12 ($24), Pueblo 60 ($24), Boulder Valley ($12), Poudre ($11), St. Vrain ($10), Pueblo, or Mesa Valley ($6) - on the Political Refunds page.

You will find sample letters you can download and print from your computer that can be filled out quickly and easily, and dropped in the mail. In some cases, it’s even easier: There’s an email address to which you can send your refund request. Again, you will find this information on the Political Refunds page.

You can click here to compare how CEA and its local affiliates spent member money on political campaigns in 2008 with other membership organizations Colorado teachers are eligible to join.

Click here to submit a question by email concerning any of the information on IndependentTeachers.org.

Denver Public Schools (DPS) teachers and other education employees may join the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) or any other membership organization at any time. However, employees who currently have membership dues deducted to the DCTA (and by extension, CEA and NEA) may only cancel the automatic deduction between November 1 and November 15.

This policy is set by the terms of the negotiated master agreement between DPS and DCTA (PDF) - from Article 23:

At any time, employees in the bargaining unit wishing to become members of the Association may authorize such deduction by filing with the District through the office of the Association, a signed and dated Denver Classroom Teachers Association Salary Deduction Authorization Form authorizing the District to deduct from their monthly earnings and to remit to the Treasurer of the Association, an amount equal to one-twelfth (1/12) of the dues required for membership in the organization or organizations specified in Article 23-2 above.

Such form shall include a waiver of all right and claim against the Board, the District, and the officers and agents thereof, for moneys deducted and remitted in accordance with said authorization; and an agreement that such deductions and remittances shall continue from year to year, as so authorized, unless teachers notify the District through the Association office and on an appropriate form, that they desire to discontinue or to change such authorization. It will be possible to revoke the dues deductions only during November 1 through November 15 of each school year. Only Association revocation forms will be honored by the District. Once a revocation form has been signed and properly processed, no further action is necessary on the part of the employee to terminate deduction of the membership dues. [emphasis added]

Denver teachers and other employees who wish to sign up or to revoke membership may obtain the appropriate form by contacting DCTA at:

Office Phone: 303-831-0590
Office Email: DCTA@nea.org

Below is contact information for Colorado public school employees’ other membership options (click on any email link to send):

• Professional Association of Colorado Educators (Phone: 720-895-1980; Email: info@coloradoteachers.org)
• American Federation of Teachers, Local 858 (Phone: 303-698-9150; Email: info@aftcolorado.org)
• Christian Educators Association International (Phone: 888-798-1124; Email: info@ceai.org)
• Teachers Legal Coverage (Phone: 303-766-1942; Email: teacherslegal@aol.com)

Information on political contributions by Colorado teacher organizations has been updated to reflect campaign reports through October 8. Here are the new totals. First, for CEA:

Through October 8, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and its affiliates, mostly through Every Member Option funds, have reported $890,335 in political contributions during the current election cycle - including:

* $422,635 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
* $200,000 to the 527 group Colorado Citizens’ Coalition to support “progressive” political candidates
* $173,500 to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado to support political candidates — Accountability for Colorado is also funded by liberal billionaires from the “Gang of Four”
* $9,250 to Republican candidates and party organizations — that’s 1 dollar to Republicans for every 30 dollars to Democrats

And for AFT:

Through October 8, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Colorado has reported $28,775 in political contributions during the current election cycle - $28,775 to Democratic candidates and party organizations and $0 to Republicans.

As usual, these records are obtained through searches on the Colorado Secretary of State campaign finance database.