Teachers’ Rights Protected

School fined for WEA actions

In an enforcement hearing yesterday the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) voted unanimously to fine the Castle Rock School District $2500 for not having authorization from teachers before deducting money from their paychecks for the Washington Education Association’s political action committee (WEA-PAC). $1500 was suspended with the condition that no future violations of the paycheck protection law occur.

"It makes me very angry that the institutions charged with instructing our children can’t follow laws," said Susan Brady, a PDC commissioner.

The paycheck protection law also requires that school districts keep authorization forms open for public inspection. Castle Rock was penalized for failing to do this along with the Everett School District, which received a $1000 fine (with $500 suspended).

"Districts have been placed in a very difficult position," says Jami Lund, a research analyst for the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "Many of them simply trust the WEA to give them the names of teachers who have signed up for the PAC, and now districts are being fined because the WEA misleads them to avoid losing political funds."

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation is calling on the WEA to pay the fines. "The guilty party, the WEA, should give school districts a break instead of forcing them to spend education dollars paying fines," says Lund. "Districts have more important things to do than police the union."

The investigation of school districts was sparked when teachers called the Evergreen Freedom Foundation asking how they could find out if money was being taken from their paycheck for WEA-PAC. EFF discovered that the state average for PAC enrollment was 13%, but several districts were deducting from 30-40% of their teachers. When Lund visited these districts with a request to see the authorization forms he was informed by some that the forms were filed at union headquarters.

"We would like the PDC to issue a letter to all school districts informing them of their legal obligations so they can start protecting teachers before any more fines have to be levied," said Lund. "The irony is that this could all be avoided if the WEA would just get teachers’ permission before taking their money for politics."

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org