During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," with guest host Apryl Marie Fogel, Rusty Brown from the Freedom Foundation talked about the group's mission to free teachers across the nation from the pervasive political agenda of progressive teachers' unions including the National Education Association (NEA) of which the Alabama Education Association (AEA) is an affiliate.
Brown highlighted the Foundation's recent win in Florida and detailed two areas of Alabama law that directly benefit the AEA.
The first issue discussed was that Alabama educators have only a 10-day window in the calendar year to leave the union once they've opted in.
According to a memo from the Office of the State Comptroller citing Section 36-1-4.4, "An employee cannot stop a payroll deduction for dues to an employee organization except during the last 10 WORKDAYS in July. This notice of termination must be in writing and delivered to the appropriate payroll clerk in the employees' department."
"It's something that you only see in the bluest of states," Brown said.
"So, during the summer when teachers aren't necessarily paying attention to what's going on, maybe, you know, just enjoying their summer break, they they've got a 10 day window to leave the Union annually. Otherwise, they're stuck there," he explained. "Almost like it was designed that way on purpose. You got your last little bit of summer before it's back to real life. And then, oh, no, I forgot about the Union thing."
Brown then went on to discuss the victory in Florida, which came just before the close of their legislative session, when the Senate passed a measure that was a priority of Governor Ron DeSantis. The bill also had the support of the Trump administration, with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon supporting its passage.
"The problem with that [current Florida law] is you have this small group of radical teachers that the union caters to in most districts that they represent, and they don't have support of the majority. That's what this new bill in Florida does. It requires at least half of the people in any bargaining unit actually participate in an election every year in order for a union to be certified,"
Finally, Brown noted the state benefits allotted to AEA staff.
"The unions employees are put into the state's pension system," Brown explained during the interview. AEA staff are able to vest into the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) for the state.
The Freedom Foundation hopes that by bringing attention to these issues, it will lead to teachers and taxpayers calling upon their lawmakers to correct them.
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