Teacher Truths: Quality liability coverage is available outside of union membership

Please share with any educator you may know to help dispel these pesky misconceptions! #TeacherTruths

Teachers in the classroom today are operating in often unpredictable and increasingly chaotic environments. And with union leadership standing with groups who want to make schools less safe by defunding the police and taking away School Resource Officers (SROs)—despite educators’ support of officers—protection through liability coverage is a good idea.

But many educators are not aware that Education Minnesota, the state’s teachers’ union, is not the only source for liability insurance. There are non-union professional associations designed just for teachers that offer twice the coverage the union provides its members for a fraction of the cost of dues.

For example, membership in either the Association of American Educators or the Christian Educators Association International costs less than $200 a year and provides teachers with $2 million of liability coverage. The union’s coverage, provided by the National Education Association, is a $1 million plan that teachers pay for through annual dues ranging from $800 to $1,000. In 2019, NEA spent $10.6 million for its policy to cover 2,975,933 members or $3.57 per covered member per year. (Here are other policy features these alternative associations provide compared to the union’s policy.)

Non-union education associations also offer other professional benefits and services, from legal protection and job protection benefits to life, disability, and auto and home insurance. And belonging to a professional association can meet other needs of teachers, as well. The focus of these organizations is on kids and serving teachers, not partisan politics. They offer professional development opportunities that help propel an educator forward in his or her teaching career. And teachers are part of a community that shares their values.

Teachers who don’t feel represented by the union have affordable alternatives when it comes to liability coverage and other protection. Visit here to learn more about non-union organizations and the coverage they provide to protect you and your career.

If you are a teacher who wishes the union would focus less on divisive politics and more on your professional needs and students, let the union know its priorities are out of touch by resigning during the September Opt-Out Window (Sept. 1-30).