Intercepts
A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions.

Since NEA is at war, it is only fitting that the organization should draw up threat maps.

By my count, that leaves only seven states without a threat (Colorado, Wyoming, Hawaii, Kentucky, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia) and most of those have already hobbled unions.

With this much ground to defend, NEA must learn the maxim of Sun Tzu: “If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.”

Following the line of succession is the preferred method of achieving high office in teachers’ unions, but there is a tried-and-true way for challengers to upset the political order. Accuse the incumbent, or heir apparent, of being too accomodating to district wishes and promise to be more combative in the battle to achieve higher salaries, benefits and job protections.

It has been particularly effective with the United Teachers Los Angeles, and Warren Fletcher utilized it to win the presidency over Julie Washington, incumbent vice president under the term-limited A.J. Duffy.

Here is Fletcher’s short campaign video, wherein he states, “The union has stopped focusing on its primary job – protecting its members.”



Fletcher picked up 53% of the votes cast, but as is typical in union elections, turnout was low. Still, I think the non-voters were making their voices heard, just as they did in 2008. We should include them in the results:

Warren Fletcher – 4,711 (11.7%)

Julie Washington – 4,247 (10.5%)

Don’t Give a Crap – 31,308 (77.8%)

I came across the most recent summary report for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and I thought its pared-down tables and graphs nicely encapsulated the pension situation in the state.

First note that the average annual salary in 2010 for active working educators enrolled in the system was $64,156. The next table states that the average retirement benefit paid out in 2010 was $4,256 per month. That’s $51,072 annually. In other words, the average retired teacher in California made more than the average working teacher in 28 states, according to the salary rankings published by NEA.

The final graph in the report provides the big picture. While the value of the pension system’s assets has increased fairly steadily over the past nine years, the accrued liabilities have grown non-stop during the same period, leaving the fund at 78% of full coverage. What’s more, CalSTRS operated on an assumed annual return of 8 percent. Last year, the pension board lowered that expectation to 7.75 percent, which means projections for the future will show even more of a gap.

Last year, the CalSTRS CEO warned that returns of 20 percent annually would be needed to fund all pensions. Without further increases in revenue or cuts in benefits, the system could be completely broke in 35 years.

Click here to read:

1) Remembering NEA’s Last “War” – The Kamber Report

2) Last Week’s Intercepts

3) Quote of the Week

Last month I opined on the state of public knowledge about labor unions and collective bargaining. I wrote that since a large segment of the population had no real idea what all the hubbub was about, both sides were ”trying to gain the support of this bloc through selective information – or propaganda, to be less charitable.” Now the first reports are in from Wisconsin, and it appears the unions are advancing along that front.

I’m not using “propaganda” in its pejorative sense. Both Gov. Walker and the unions are trying to frame the issue to display the most advantageous picture for their side. So far, more Wisconsinites are admiring the union picture.

Mickey Kaus cites surveys commissioned by Independent Women’s Voice and block quotes a key finding:

Wisconsin voters revealed basic misunderstandings on numerous issues, including how much government union members and taxpayers have been contributing to union pensions, what the fiscal situation in Wisconsin is, how collective bargaining is, or isn’t, done elsewhere, and how dues are collected and used. Building an understanding of these fundamental policy issues is key to building support for reform.

All of this may be true, but it’s all beside the point. The side that has to explain always loses the propaganda battle. The union message is, “They’re taking away our rights!” and no amount of education about the policies and practices of collective bargaining is going to trump it. I remember California voucher supporters in 1993 trying to explain why witches wouldn’t be able to open voucher schools.

This is a serious disadvantage for Walker and the Wisconsin GOP, but it doesn’t have to be disastrous. The unions’ main problem is they think it’s still the Sixties. Rallies and protests are great for the activists, but they have diminishing returns with the masses. Eventually they notice the world hasn’t ended and they move on to other things. Remember the Million Man March? Or the Promise Keepers? No one does.

All this aside, the decisive battles are still legislative (advantage: GOP), judicial (advantage: unions); and implementation, should it get that far (advantage: unions). Prepare for a long war.

If you hire a company to call teachers and then connect them to their representative’s office, you might want to make sure the teachers realize what you’re doing.

Kansas – A House committee passed a bill that would allow employee associations other than Kansas NEA access to teacher bulletin boards and orientation sessions.

Florida – The House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would “require unions to get written authorization from union members in order to use those dues for political purposes.”

Alabama – The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would provide taxpayer-funded liability insurance for education employees. In states where workers are not compelled to join unions or pay agency fees, liability insurance from the union is a powerful recruiting tool.

Nebraska – While there is a bill to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees, most efforts focus on reforming the state’s Commission on Industrial Relations and its methods of resolving labor disputes.

Iowa – A collective bargaining overhaul that passed the House was declared “dead on arrival”  in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

California – The state will fall into the ocean before changes to public sector collective bargaining are contemplated, but a recent Field Poll indicates public opinion is being affected.