December 15 marks the annual deadline for Colorado Education Association members to request a refund of “Every Member Option” union funds used to support state and local political campaigns. Last year’s attention-getting 45-second video is worth watching to find out the information, or just for the nostalgic refresher:

In addition to the $39 EMO available from CEA — which can be requested electronically or by old-fashioned mail — a number of other districts have additional EMO political refund options with additional opt-out requirements. To learn all the specifics click on any of the following districts that require refunds on or shortly after December 15 (with the amount available):

• Jefferson County ($24)
• Denver ($24)
• Adams 12 ($24)
• Pueblo City ($24)
• Boulder Valley ($12)
• St. Vrain ($10)
• Pueblo 70 ($6)
• Pikes Peak ($6) (Pikes Peak EA includes Academy 20, Calhan, Canon City, Cheyenne Mountain, Cripple Creek, Ellicott, Falcon 49, Fremont Re-2, Fountain-Fort Carson 8, Hanover 28, Harrison 2, Lewis-Palmer 38, Manitou Springs 14, Miami-Yoder 60JT, Peyton 23, Widefield 3 and Woodland Park Re-2)

If you are a Colorado public school teacher, or know one, please feel free to share this post and the video. You could be making a difference and giving someone another reason to give thanks during this special holiday season.

Go directly here for more information about Colorado teachers union political refunds.

Here is a two-minute video explanation of CEA’s Every Member Option political refund, from a veteran Jefferson County teacher, produced in 2008:

Go here to see a summary breakdown of how Colorado teachers unions reported spending member dues on political activities during the most recent election.

From the YouTube summary:

Due to family medical hardships, non-union Pueblo school employee Becky Robertson missed an annual deadline to opt out of union fee paycheck deductions. The union rejected her appeal. Though she had chosen not to be a union member, Becky ended up paying the union hundreds of dollars that could have been used for medical bills and other expenses. Why do Colorado laws allow this type of abuse to continue?

Which Colorado school district employees are affected by union fee opt-out policies for non-union members?
Teachers and classified employees in:
Pueblo City Schools
Pueblo School District 70
South Conejos School District

Teachers in:
Colorado Springs District 11 (the district currently honors one-time union fee revocations, so teachers don’t have to repeat the process year after year)
Alamosa School District Re-11J

Classified employees in:
Brighton Public Schools

Bus drivers and mechanics only in:
Denver Public Schools

In these districts and many others, union members who wish to quit their membership dues payments similarly have a narrow window of time each year in which to make their decision. You can find more information right here on our website concerning these policies and deadlines for teachers / licensed employees and classified school employees.

Click on the postcard for more information about requesting one or more refunds before the December 15 deadline.

OR Watch this 2-minute video explanation by a Jefferson County teacher:

OR Listen to an overview of the Every Member Option and some frequently asked questions on a 3-minute podcast by clicking the play button below (if you can’t see the player, or it doesn’t work, click here to listen):

Please visit our “Political Refunds” page for the detailed information on when and how to submit a request. For information on related topics, please check out the links on the left sidebar.

This information is provided by the Independence Institute as a public service.

• 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 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….

In 2008, as Colorado Democrats sought to build their leadership margins in the State House and Senate, local teachers’ unions increasingly gave to legislative candidates who did not represent their geographic area but who were locked in tight contests….

This has given a distinct teachers’ union edge to Democrats. Of the more than 100 candidates who received teachers’ union money over the past five years, fewer than 10 were Republican. Of the more than $75,000 the statewide CEA donated directly to political parties and their committees, fewer than $2,000 went to Republican groups such as the Senate Republican Majority Fund….

The CEA and its local affiliates gave more than $1.5 million to 527s in the past five years, including $10,000 to the conservative Colorado Leadership Fund to elect Republican candidates. But the great majority of those dollars went to seven apparently Democrat-leaning groups managed by the same registered agent and bookkeeper, Julie Wells. Wells did not respond to a request for comment.

Among the seven groups is the Colorado Citizens’ Coalition, the recipient of $200,000 from the CEA, which lists its mission as “to provide information to Colorado citizens.” The coalition filed reports indicating it was working on behalf of 17 legislative candidates – all Democrats. The coalition and several of the other 527s – Accountability for Colorado, Main Street Colorado, 21st-Century Colorado, Colorado Values – frequently sent money back and forth to each other.

The same article (and you really have to read it all) also takes notice of CEA’s political collection and refund mechanism for members — first documented in the Independence Institute issue paper Should Colorado School Districts Stop Collecting Political Funds? (PDF).

It’s certainly encouraging to see such an investigative validation of the work we do here — namely, notifying Colorado teachers of their rights and options.

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?

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.

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.

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.