They had already decided to get around the new law. We hoped this would force the union to change its manipulative practices, but it was not to be. It was an attempt to harass and intimidate us, pure and simple. We and our families lived under the shadow of the union's lawsuit for over a year before the WEA agreed to drop all charges against us if we would not use the letters WEA as part of our title in future writings. This is as much money as was spent by the largest registered PAC in our state.
Teachers are busy people.
Nonetheless, it is past time for us to hold our union executives accountable for how they spend our hard-earned money. Our union officials say they fight for us, but it appears they fight against us equally well. Most of us would not give this money if we had a choice, but, unfortunately, the law requiring our leadership to ask permission is neither heeded nor enforced. We must have protection for teachers, workers and voters. We all thought that the citizens' Initiative 134 was the answer, but the special interest of the union has proven overpowering.