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Ed100 |
| Unit 1 | Profession of teaching |
| Session 5 | Teacher organizations |
| Topic | Session 5 home page |
TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS
National Education Association
American Federation of Teachers
Others: Phi Delta Kappa, NCTE, NSTA, etc.
Fair Share: Before you even click on to further information about the NEA and its state and local affiliates (IEA (Illinois Education Association), DEA (Decatur Educational Association)), and the AFT and its state and local affiliates (yes, IFT, and DFT, and if you teach in Mt. Zion, the MZFT) you should know that a teacher is not required by anything to join either (or any other) teacher organization. However, usually, one or the other of these organizations represents the teachers as a bargaining agent in negotiating salaries and other conditions of employment with the local board of education. Illinois law allows these bargaining agents to bargain to include a provision that non-members (who benefit from the bargaining without having to pay dues to the bargaining agent, because the contract the bargaining agent negotiates affects all teachers -- members or not) have deducted from their pay the cost of bargaining. This amount is usually about 85% of the cost of the membership dues. Consequently some teachers conclude that if they are going to pay that much for the bargaining, they might as well add a little more and purchase full membership. Some, however, conclude that they still do not want to join. The matter is up to the individual.