Last month, we celebrated our nation’s 249 years of independence. At the Freedom Foundation, we also celebrated the fact we helped free over 500 public employees in July from union tyranny in the state named for its first president.
The number set a new record for the month of July and ranked as Washington’s highest monthly total so far this year.
The year-to-date total now stands at nearly 2,600 opt-outs statewide.
The Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) alone has already lost more than 730 members, thanks in large measure to a new outreach campaign highlighting a second opportunity to opt out following the June 30 contract expiration.
At the same time, a separate awareness effort is drawing attention to WFSE’s ongoing increases to its dues cap. On track for another 1,400 opt-out year, it’s clear workers are tired of being treated like a cash machine for a union that has grown too large to serve them effectively.
July also featured the Freedom Foundation’s highly anticipated Teacher Freedom Summit, hosted just blocks from the National Education Association headquarters in Washington, D.C.
More than 400 liberty-minded educators from across the country attended the exclusive event. Among them were 20 courageous Washington teachers who showed up in force and stood out as a beacon of hope.
Most teachers in Washington are represented by the loathsome Washington Education Association, a proud NEA affiliate.
Currently, the WEA’s website features a section titled “WEA Protest Attendance Guidance,” which raises concerns about efforts to normalize protest activity among educators.
While peaceful protest is a fundamental American right, it is troubling that the guidance includes a section titled “Stopped by the police while protesting — Your rights.”
This suggests the WEA may be attempting to steer teachers into political activism that turns them into unwitting pawns. After all, a truly peaceful protest should not involve the police.
Washington’s teachers are catching on to their union’s divisive and problematic political interventionism in their classrooms and at the capitol. They are armed with the power of information and will take what they learned at the conference to build connections in their districts.
Thanks to the Teacher Freedom Summit and the newly founded Teacher Freedom Alliance, we will see yet another surge in teacher opt outs this summer.
Freedom and momentum were the defining themes this month in Washington.
