WSJ Reader reacts to Education Minnesota: It’s all about the money (and the power)

In reaction to my commentary in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, about Education Minnesota’s plans for dealing with the union fees case at the U.S. Supreme Court this term, one reader (Sean McDonnell) wrote in to say:

Numbers to explain why the teachers’ union Education Minnesota wants to make it next-to-impossible for state teachers to avoid paying union dues:

*Total compensation of Education Minnesota President Denise Specht (2015): $194,745

*Number of Education Minnesota employees with total compensation of $100,000+ (2015): 68

*Salary of Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius (2015): $149,427

*Number of Education Minnesota employees earning more than MN Education Commissioner: 8

*Average salary of a Minnesota public school teacher, without benefits (2017): $50,958-$67,390

*Election spending by Education Minnesota in 2014 (last major in-state election): $2.4 million

*Number of Democratic candidates endorsed by Education Minnesota in 2014: 126

*Number of Republican candidates endorsed by Education Minnesota in 2014: 4

Education Minnesota plans to lock-in revenues by trapping 86,000 teachers with a “renewal agreement.”

I cannot verify all the numbers, but this looks on target to me. I had included some of the union executive compensation numbers in the original submission to WSJ but they ended up on the editing floor! We must get this information to teachers. Thanks, Sean.