Former teacher union president throws shade at American Experiment

Former Education Minnesota President Denise Specht indirectly threw shade at American Experiment recently, writing in her last column for the union’s magazine Minnesota Educator that the union will continue “battling” the “big-money groups” that have “tried and failed every fall to persuade educators to leave their union” since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Janus v. AFSCME in 2018.

Specht, who retired this year after serving 12 years as president of the teachers’ union, was likely alluding to American Experiment’s Educated Teachers project, which informs Minnesota educators that, thanks to the Janus decision, they no longer have to financially support a union in order to keep their job. We share this information every year during the summer because Education Minnesota limits when teachers can exercise their right to resign from union membership to a narrow 30-day opt-out window that is only open from Sept. 1-Sept. 30 — the busiest time of year for educators. If they miss the window, they are automatically locked into membership for another year.

Given that Specht signs off on the union’s membership reports, she should know that educators have been saying “no thanks” to membership for years. In fact, since the Janus decision, the number of educators financially supporting Education Minnesota is down nine percent.

Education Minnesota Total Members/Agency Fee Payers, FY 2014-FY 2024

Specht continues in her column: “…[Unionists] want a free society, where everyone is treated with respect.”

How about treating educators who don’t believe union membership is right for them with respect? Do they count? The examples I hear of union members and leaders disparaging their colleagues for exercising their rights regarding union membership baffle me.

First, I am not aware of any educator who wants to be a “free loader” or “free rider” or take advantage of others. Teachers are in the education field often because of their desire to serve others.

Second, the teachers’ union fought for — and won — the right to represent all employees within the collective bargaining unit, regardless of union membership status. But despite choosing to represent non-members, the union complains it is a “problem” — one they created themselves. Why don’t they try to solve it, then?

The union could lobby — as it does on many other things — to change the long-standing statutory right of government unions to exclusively represent all employees in a bargaining unit. This would then allow the union to represent only its members, and employees who didn’t want to belong to the union would be able to negotiate on their own behalf. But that would also mean the union gives up its monopolistic privilege of exclusive agency. And no monopoly wants competition.

Union membership is a personal decision, and educators have been deciding for years and for a variety of reasons that union membership is not right for them — there are those who are exhausted by the union’s political leanings, political activism, and apparent intent to take on everything except its primary mission of supporting teachers with their day-to-day professional needs. No wonder teachers have been looking for an exit.

Teachers have also started banding together to provide their colleagues an alternative union option. In Becker, the Becker Association of Professional Educators (BAPE) has been officially recognized by the Bureau of Mediation Services and incorporated as an apolitical, local, nonprofit labor union. While Education Minnesota’s local union affiliate — Becker Education Association — has not yet been decertified, BAPE is at least challenging the status quo and offering something different for those seeking it. Perhaps others will also be encouraged to establish a local representative that better reflects their voice and what they believe a union should prioritize.

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NOTE: Union membership is not the only option for liability coverage. Check out these education associations that offer liability insurance for a fraction of the cost of dues and without the politics.