For years, Utah’s taxpayers have been subsidizing one of the state’s most politically-powerful special interests, the teachers unions, but the free ride on the gravy train is about to come to an abrupt halt.
On Friday, the state Senate passed a bill that bans school districts from paying the local teacher union president to conduct union business on the taxpayer’s dime. A similar bill was passed earlier by the state House, making the ban a safe bet to become state law.
Across the nation, it is common for a school district to pay part (or all) of a teacher union president’s salary, even though that teacher’s time is dedicated to tending to union affairs instead of teaching students. Teacher unions usually insist on including such a clause in the collectively-bargained teachers contract with the school district.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, three Utah school districts (Salt Lake, Granite and Davis) currently provide this taxpayer subsidy to the union.
The costs of such a provision vary from district to district. Education Action Group recently did a study of teacher contracts in nearby Idaho, and found one contract that “suggested” that the district “pay for all costs of the (local National Education Association) president and one-half the costs of the replacement (classroom substitute) with the NEA paying one-half the costs of the replacement.”
These “union leave” clauses can cost a cash-strapped school district tens of thousands of dollars (and in some cases, millions of dollars) that it cannot afford. A recent New York Post story reveals that 1,500 teachers in New York City’s public schools are given full pay to conduct union business, while the city spends another $9 million to pay for fill-in teachers.
But ending such practices in Utah is about more than money — it is about principle. Like many other states, the teacher unions are a politically powerhouse in Utah. According to a recent study of the 2007-2008 election cycle, the 2.3 million member NEA spent $56.3 million on political campaigns and issues, by far the most of every other special interest group. That total exceeded the political expenditures of Wal-Mart, Microsoft, or ExxonMobil.
It is simply wrong to require Utah taxpayers to subsidize the teacher unions’ political activities. Utah’s lawmakers are finally looking out for the taxpayer, and it’s about time. It would be nice if the unions did sometime, too.
