No recession for CA. teachers unions

By Larry Sand
2:00 a.m. July 2, 2009

It is obvious that tough economic times have come to the United States, with California being the hardest hit of all states. We hear almost daily how California's budget crisis threatens to devastate a public education system that once led the nation. However, the California Teachers Association, the state's 340,000-member teachers union and state affiliate of the National Education Association, seems unfazed by this grim reality.

California has more than 300,000 teachers on its payroll. However, when September rolls around, this number could be diminished by thousands and many of the still-employed will face a decrease in salary or cuts in benefits. In such a rocky economic climate you might think that CTA would accordingly not raise, or might even lower, its dues. But no, it is has decided to raise dues. The dollar amount has not yet been announced, but several sources have it at $22 for 2009-2010. (CTA uses a rather arcane formula to ascertain members' dues; it is tied to the state's average teachers' salaries and since teachers' salaries almost always rise, so do the dues.)

The NEA has already announced a $4-a-year increase for its 3.4 million members. Hence, in California, a non-right-to-work state (payment of union dues is a condition of employment), teachers will be forced to pay their unions an additional $26 a year. While that amount might not break anyone, isn't the nearly $1,000 a year that a teacher already pays to the unions enough?

When a teacher enters the field, he or she joins three unions — a local, state and national, which divvy up the dues pie. CTA gets the bulk, over $600, with the rest distributed between the NEA and the local union. CTA will tell you that it needs this money to function at an optimal level to fight for its members. Hogwash.

While CTA will not divulge the amount it pays its employees, its income tax form lets us know what its officers make. David Sanchez, CTA's president, makes close to $200,000 a year, or about three times what the average teacher in California makes — yes, his salary is based on another union formula. And the other union officers make very close to that amount; these salaries are ascertained by yet another formula.

Perhaps more important than what CTA pays in salaries is what else it spends its members' dues money on. Many millions go to candidates and causes that have nothing to do with teachers or education. And the only thing a teacher can do to protest this spending is to “resignâ€