If NJ Teachers Had a Choice, Would They Vote to Cut NJEA Political Spending and Executive Pay To Get a 50%+ Cut in Dues?

Thanks to NJEA-friendly laws, they don’t have that choice, but Dade County, FL shows what can happen when teachers get a choice about who represents them at the bargaining table.   They can choose to certify a new union that promises to get out of partisan politics, allow locals to control their own dues revenues, reduce union officer pay, and cut teachers’ dues by 50%.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the United Teachers of Dade (UTD, a joint AFT-NEA affiliate) — the largest teachers union in FL — has fallen short of a recertification threshold set by a new Florida law.  The law requires public unions to prove that at least 60% of a bargaining unit are dues-paying members, but only 56% of UTD are dues-paying members.  As a result, for the first time in 40 years, UTD may face a challenger for certification as the union representing Dade County teachers.

Enter the Miami-Dade Education Coalition (MDEC), founded by Dade teachers who are unhappy with the UTD status quo.  MDEC must garner the support of 10% of the bargaining unit to qualify for the certification ballot.

Three of MDEC’s policy planks stand out:

1. No partisan politics. MDEC pledges to get out of partisan politics. “We are going to be totally and completely nonpartisan” and “will not be endorsing candidates,” says MDEC Vice President Renee Zayas (as quoted by the Journal).  MDEC will focus solely on teacher pay, benefits and work conditions.
2. No six-figure pay for union officers. Officers of MDEC will never be paid “more than the median teachers’ salary” — as compared to the six-figure salaries for UTD officers.
3. 50% cut in dues. The dues revenues from Dade teachers will stay at the local level.  Currently, 50% of Dade teachers’ dues go to the state-level Florida Education Association and the national AFT and NEA.  Eliminating those payments will lead to at least a 50% reduction in Dade teachers’ $1,000 annual dues.

Now, let’s imagine if NJ teachers had such a choice.  Here are the salient facts:

1. The NJEA has spent $77 million on partisan politics. We know that the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward has spent over $68 million on partisan politics since 2013, and NJEA PAC has spent almost $9 million, so that’s a total of $77 million spent on partisan politics.  Imagine if NJ teachers did not have to fund that $77 million.
2. NJEA execs are the highest-paid teachers union officers in the nation.  By far.  In our study of 2018-2020 compensation, we found that the top NJEA execs averaged over $750,000 a year.  The median NJ teacher makes $78,000.  Imagine if NJ teachers only had to fund $78,000 a year in salaries for its top execs.
3. 85% of NJ teachers’ dues go to NJEA/NEA.  In NJ, the NJEA controls the dues revenues.  As Sunlight determined in our analysis of state unions, 70% of NJ teachers’ dues (the highest percentage in the nation) goes to the NJEA, and another $15% to NEA.  Only 12% stays with the local.  That’s 85% of NJ teachers’ $1,500 annual dues (the highest in the nation by far) that go away from the local.  Imagine if NJ teachers only had to support their local with a few hundred dollars a year in dues.

We can be sure that the NJEA and its multi-millionaire execs do not want NJ teachers to have such a choice.  We can be sure that the NJ pols who have benefited from all the NJEA’s political spending do not want teachers to have such a choice.  But what about NJ teachers?  Would they want to have such a choice?