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

EFF ad targets union concealment

YAKIMA — A newspaper ad designed by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) ran in today’s Yakima Herald-Republic (page 11A) targeting officials of the Washington Education Association for concealing their political goals from the union’s own members and the public.

The ad, which coincides with the WEA’s annual representative assembly held in Yakima this year, features a locked file cabinet under the bold headline: "What’s in this locked file cabinet? The Washington Education Association doesn’t want you to know."

The graphic was inspired by a file cabinet containing the union’s ambitious 1996 political plan (described by one judge as a "smoking gun"), which sat locked at EFF’s office for five years during litigation. WEA officials refused to disclose the documents until a judge ordered them to pay a $15,000 fine, and they sought and obtained a protective order to seal the plan from their members and the public. Only EFF attorneys and a few staff members were permitted to read it.

"The last thing WEA officials want teachers and the public to know is what their political goals really are," said Bob Williams, EFF’s president. "They know teachers would refuse to pay for their activity and the public would be outraged. We think union officials need to answer to that."

Teachers in Washington state are required to pay the WEA an average of $744 each year as a condition of employment. Those who object to the union’s political goals are forced to go through a complicated process to request a partial refund each year.

"The WEA makes it very difficult for teachers to exercise their right to say ‘no’ to forced political speech," said Williams. "That’s wrong and un-American."

The Foundation is also concerned that the WEA’s considerable political influence is concealed from Washington citizens. The newspaper ad states: "We’re not allowed to tell you what’s in the cabinet, but we can tell you that behind the WEA is the powerful National Education Association, which has sent hundreds of thousands of dollars and many well-trained political operatives into our state to influence our elections."

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