NY Teacher Unions Play With Dues

Mike Antonucci writes on the various uses New York teacher unions find for forced dues dollars, as well as providing predictions on just how far their finances will go, in The74million.org.  Could ending forced dues mean significant changes for the finances of other teacher unions?

New York law dictates mandatory monopoly bargaining and compulsory unionism.  That means teacher union officials require each and every school district in the state to collect forced dues from each and every teacher who does not wish to join.  Yes, in New York State, you either join or pay forced dues.  There is no alternative, thanks to teacher union power.

Public schools in New York are among the best-funded in the nation, with the average spending per pupil exceeding $20,000 annually both in New York City and statewide. Not coincidentally, New York is also home to the largest state teachers union, New York State United Teachers, and the largest teachers union local, the United Federation of Teachers, in New York City.

Besides advocating for their members, the unions are also commercial enterprises operating in a market economy. They have buildings, employees, bills to pay, budgets to construct, and in-house “staff unions” they have to bargain with. It is instructive to compare the teachers unions’ positions for financing public schools with the way they collect and disburse funds internally.