A plan to disentangle state resources from the collection of partisan union dues is working its way through the Oklahoma State Legislature, and could be enshrined in state law within weeks.
Legislation that would prohibit school districts from deducting union dues from teacher paychecks passed through the Oklahoma State Senate Committee on Education with overwhelming support. After its passage and approval, Senate Bill 1625 would immediately prevent school districts from making payroll deductions for professional organization dues or political contributions.
Legislation removing the state as a dues collector for teacher unions passed into Florida law in 2023, and similar legislative efforts are underway in Utah.
The Institute for Educational Reform issued the following statement of support for Senator Seyfried’s bill: “SB 1625 is a necessary step towards freeing schools from the role of bagman for teacher unions. Taxpayers fund public schools to educate children, not to make it easier for unions to engage in partisan politics with teachers’ paychecks. Senator Seifried’s legislation is a common sense reform that should be embraced by education-focused lawmakers in Oklahoma and across the country.”
Taxpayers sink over $230 million on salaries and benefits for district employees, and it’s still not enough to keep classrooms open for children. Never mind the fact that it is illegal for teachers to walk out in Massachusetts. Unelected union bosses demand more concessions from local government, and the laws be damned.
The Superintendent can hem and haw about being “unsure of how school days will be made up,” because it isn’t about school days, students, or academic achievement. It never is. It is about teacher unions maintaining a stranglehold on the education establishment, and using children as a point of leverage to grasp for even more.
Any state that gives in to public sector unions is asking for this kind of mistreatment. Public employee unions always end up working against the best interests of the taxpayers.
Lest you think this is some “right wing talking point,” consider FDR’s indictment of striking by public sector unions:
“I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. Upon employees in the Federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of Government activities. This obligation is paramount. Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable.”
