The impact of Janus v. AFSCME on union membership losses in Minnesota is not fully known yet. While the state’s unionization rate in the public sector did increase 5.4 percentage points between 2017 and 2018, not all union data is reported within a calendar year.
For example, Education Minnesota, the…
(Golden Valley, MN), A report released by Center of the American Experiment reveals how Minnesota teachers are trapped by arbitrary union terms, forcing them to fund Education Minnesota’s partisan political spending even after the Janus decision.
Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. Afscme said that public employers can no longer collect…
While we are still thinking about the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., I wanted to bring a startling development to your attention: public school teachers are being subjected to on-the-job mental abuse and bullying. Teachers are being told they are white supremacists by people who judge them solely on the basis of their skin color. They are forced to listen to crude language (so they could better understand black culture), and then blamed, as whites, for the achievement gap. The kicker? Teachers are being asked to change the "white curriculum" to accommodate black students. Who does this serve? Certainly not teachers or black students.
Education Minnesota’s most recent federal filings covered the organization’s revenues and expenditures from September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2018. While this period does include the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Janus v. AFSCME, it does not extend through the union’s resignation/opt-out window (which is limited to only seven days…
Forward: Mike Antonucci is an amazing reporter in the teachers’ union space. We do not think anyone spends more time watching the union for teachers, and he always seems to get great “scoops.” If you want to keep an eye on the teachers’ unions here and around the country, he…
Happy Halloween! Hope you are having fun with your students today. Today is the last day to get your forms in the mail.
The request forms are available only in the October issue of the Minnesota Educator (pages 13 and 8).
If you are a “continuing member,” you must submit your…
Meanwhile, the union was anticipating the Supreme Court’s ruling and subsequently, a possible drop in membership. To maintain its numbers, Education Minnesota would need to fortify its membership and bank accounts. Last year, the union increased the amount deducted from each member’s annual union dues for its political action committee from $15 to $25. (If members want to opt out of that donation, they have to jump through a few hoops: Fill out a form included in an issue of the union’s magazine — and not a photocopied version — and submit it by the end of October, or within 30 days of signing on as a union member.)
A union supporter, Amy, wrote in on Facebook to say she was proud to pay her union dues, including the $25 to the PAC and the $5 to the Educational Foundation.
Here is how Educated Teachers responded:
Amy, good for you but these are not “dues.” The $25 is PAC…
Education Minnesota Members, do you have your October issue of the Minnesota Educator?
Each year Education Minnesota charges member teachers and education support professionals (ESPs) $25.00 for its political action committee or “PAC.” PAC money is spent on political parties, candidates and other political funds. According to a recent filing, Education Minnesota…