Evergreen Foundation hauls teachers union to court

The Washington State Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for November 18 in a legal showdown between the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) and the Washington Education Association (WEA), the state chapter of the National Education Association (NEA).

The question is whether the union can use compulsory membership dues for political purposes without members' permission.

On August 26, State Superior Court Judge W. T. McPhee decided against the EFF, arguing in a 22-page decision that the WEA did not behave as a political action committee (PAC) even though the WEA takes money from teachers' paychecks and uses a portion of those dues for political purposes.

Initiative 134, passed by 70% of Washington voters in November 1992 in the face of opposition from the WEA, forbid unions from using mandatory dues for political purposes without union workers' permission. McPhee bizarrely decided that the initiative did not apply to the WEA, since a public-sector union could be expected to spend a small portion on political activities anyway. "The amount spent is meaningful only in relation to the total expenditures of the organization," he wrote, finding that the 4% of union expenditures spent on political activities was not enough to trigger the law.

"The largest PAC in our state spent $1 million" in the last cycle, said Lea Conner, director of communications for EFE "If the WkA spent 4%-we think it is more--hat's $700,000. That makes them a powerful PAC in our state." In addition, Conner said that since the WEA is not considered a PAC, "it is not subject to the disclosure requirements that a PAC is. Most of that money was not reported until after the election."

Another EFF vs. WEA showdown is already before the state supreme court. In this case, the WEA is arguing that it is not subject to Washington's paycheck protection laws because local school districts, not the union, deduct the unions' mandatory dues from teachers' paychecks. "All teachers pay at least $600 a year in dues," said Conner. "And 83% refuse to give voluntary contributions to the WEA's official PAC. So they shift the money from the general fund to the PAC, and they have admitted this."

The supreme court might not to go so far as to reclassify the WEA as a political organization, but it might require it to ask teachers' permission before using their dues for political purposes.

"Instead of working with teachers, parents, and students to make public schools better, EFF bosses continue their unwarranted attacks on school employees' rights," complained WEA President Lee Ann Prielipp. WEA is currently engaged in a campaign to defeat Initiative 695, which would reduce the state's car-tag fee and require voter approval for all tax and fee changes of any kind in the future. Prielipp appeared at a press conference bashing the proposal on October 11, and WEAs website (www.wa.nea.org) contains information criticizing the initiative.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Nov 5, 1999
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