In Kansas, teachers unions should stand for retention

A bill requiring teachers unions to stand for retention elections each year would be good for teachers, students, and taxpayers.

The bill is SB 469, titled “Recertification of professional employees’ organizations under the professional negotiations act.” It would require that the Kansas Department of Labor hold an election each year in each school district regarding whether the current representation should continue. These elections, in effect, would be referendums on the teachers union, by the teachers. (Update: The bill has been revised to call for elections every third year.)

That’s a good thing. The teachers union monopoly ought to stand for retention once in a while.

The bill has an estimated cost of $340,000 annually, including the hiring of 4 employees. But this is a situation ideally suited for outsourcing to one of the many companies that can perform this work. It would undoubtedly be less expensive and would not require the hiring of employees to do a job that is seasonal in nature.

Further, the professional employees’ organization (union) that represents each district ought to bear the cost of the elections, if they want to continue representing a district.

How effective has the teachers union been in advocating for teachers? In particular, teachers in the Wichita public school district ought to be wondering about the benefit of its union. The contract for this year did not include a pay increase, although the teachers do get some additional time off as the school year was shortened by two days. (Which makes us ask: Where is the concern by the board or teachers for the welfare of the students?)

As far as performance over time, since 2008 teacher salaries in Wichita rose by 2.6 percent. Salaries for principals rose by 8.1 percent over the same period. Statewide, the increase in teacher pay was 7.7 percent, and for principals, 10.9 percent.

On top of that, the Wichita teachers union takes credit for providing benefits that aren’t really benefits, such as when it promoted that only United Teachers of Wichita members would receive a copy of the employment agreement. In reality, it is a public document that anyone has the right to possess.

There are many reasons why Kansas schoolteachers might be unhappy with their current union representation, including:

Creating an adversarial environment for public schools in Kansas. Instead of cooperating on education matters, the union foments conflict with taxpayers.

Forcing professional employees to work under rules more suited for blue-collar labor.

Working to deny Kansas teachers a choice in representation. ¹

Promoting a false assessment of Kansas schools that is harmful to Kansas schoolchildren. ²

Forming a task force to promote a false grassroots impression of support for the teachers union, complete with pre-determined talking points on a secret web page. ³

Encouraging party-switching to vote in primary elections to protect union members’ “professional interests.” ⁴

Constant drumbeat for more school spending without regard to competing interests and taxpayers.⁵ and taxes to support it.⁶

Opposing the introduction of a modern retirement system, instead preferring to saddle Kansans with billions of dollars in debt.⁷

—
Notes