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What Sets Independent Educators Apart?
There are three educators' national organizations in the Washington, D.C. political arena.
AAE (Association of American Educators, organized in 1994)
AFT (American Federation of Teachers)
NEA (National Education Association)
Wouldn't just one be better? Are there three different kinds of teachers in the country? Not really. One cannot normally tell about organizational preference by observing a teacher or by casual conversation. Most teachers do the same excellent job in the classroom and seldom give a thought to which organization they are financing. Many members of educational organizations seldom stop to consider what their dues are promoting. The philosophy, membership, and negotiations of the various organizations are:
Philosophy:
AAE was organized specifically to provide a voice for educators who were unwilling or unwelcome to belong to either of the teacher unions. They are committed to providing children with the best possible education in a safe and strike-free environment.
AFT is proud to be a teacher's union. They organized because they believe that the welfare of teachers is closely bound to the "American Labor Movement."
NEA gradually became a teacher union but was reluctant to admit it before 1978. Now they openly acknowledge that classification.
Membership:
AAE believes that each educator must be free to decide which organization to join or support and that no one should be forced to join or contribute to any organization.
AFT & NEA both believe that, after a vote is taken in a school district, all teachers should be required to join and to pay dues to the winner. Failure to do so would be legal grounds to terminate the offending teacher's career. Some teachers in right-to-work states do not realize that forced membership in unions is illegal. Many times forced payments are being used to work for repeal of the right-to-work laws. In states where there is no right-to-work law, many teachers are forced to make payments or are being dismissed from their teaching positions because they refuse to make payments to an organization they do not believe is helping education.
Negotiations:
AAE believes that the industrial collective bargaining model is not appropriate for educators because:
1. Teachers and administrators are not adversaries. They are colleagues who need to develop a collegial relationship.
2. Strikes are harmful to students, destroy respect for teachers, and are a prelude to violence and vandalism in the schools.
3. Exclusive recognition promotes secret negotiations, rivalry among groups of teachers, and special privileges for the leaders of the organization that can exclude everyone else from communicating.
AFT has always believed in industrial type collective bargaining.
NEA completely endorses the industrial mandatory collective bargaining model for teachers. They have endorsed bills in the Congress, and every state that does not have a collective bargaining bill. They want to mandate that teachers must negotiate by the labor rules of the National Labor Relations Board.
KAPE is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, professional association. It is not a labor union. Membership is open to any employee of an educational entity. We chose to be affiliated with AAE as they have the same philosophy that supports our professional views. At the same time, we respect the right of other teachers to belong to a labor union if they believe in that philosophy, and we do not criticize individuals for making that decision. We believe KAPE deserves the same consideration.
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