Latest news with #OklahomaEducationAssociation
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Education Committee rejects attempt to make it harder to pay teachers' union dues
A bipartisan group of Oklahoma senators on Tuesday roundly rejected an attempt by a Republican colleague to make it harder for teachers to pay union dues. The Senate Education Committee voted 8-3 against Senate Bill 62, authored by state Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, which would have removed a requirement for school districts to make school employee payroll deductions for dues for professional organizations, such as unions, and for political contributions. Teachers' unions traditionally have collected dues from members by having them automatically withdrawn from their paycheck, should teachers choose to join a union. Bergstrom argued Tuesday individual teachers should be responsible for paying their union dues, instead of having the school district automatically withdraw those dues from the teacher's paycheck and send them to a union. He said his bill 'stops taxpayers subsidizing far-left teachers' unions.' 'We need to be familiar with what is going on here,' Bergstrom said. 'We have payroll deductions for union dues to organizations like the (Oklahoma Education Association), which gives almost $3 million a year to the (National Education Association) for a lot of left-wing ideology that's being pushed throughout our state and the country. In addition to that, they have political contributions that they are required to take and push through.' More: Teachers begin speaking out against Ryan Walters: 'You're putting students in jeopardy' Bergstrom, a former teacher, did not provide examples of what he meant by 'left-wing ideology.' Senators from both sides of the political aisle pounced. Sen. Aaron Reinhardt, R-Jenks, noted teachers could already voluntarily choose not to have union dues withdrawn. Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, said teachers currently have to opt into the automatic withdrawal every year and called Bergstrom's bill 'a step too far,' although Rader did end up voting for the bill after Bergstrom agreed to strike its title, a legislative move that can slow a bill's progress. Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, also has been a teacher. She simply asked Bergstrom, 'Why would we remove this?' She later asked if Bergstrom had considered removing automatic deductions for other public employees, such as police officers and firefighters. 'I'm only dealing with schools,' Bergstrom replied. Again, Hicks asked, 'Why?' 'That's all I decided to deal with, is schools,' Bergstrom said. Torie Luster Pennington, the president of another teachers' union, the Oklahoma City chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said she was pleased to see Bergstrom's bill defeated. She called Bergstrom's assertions that taxpayer dollars are subsidizing unions 'absolutely false.' 'We have worked hard on this every year to defeat it in committee,' Pennington said. 'Hopefully, it means that it won't need be brought up every year like it has been. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OK Senate committee rejects bill to make teacher union dues harder to pay
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Teachers to be required to take U.S. Naturalization test
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The Oklahoma Board of Education recently approved a rule requiring teachers to take a test based on the U.S. Naturalization test, the same test used to become U.S. citizens. 'All of our teachers will be required to take the U.S. Naturalization test to ensure that they understand the basics of America, American history, American government and civics,' said State Superintendent Ryan Walters. Superintendents react to proposed counting of students' citizenship The rule would mean, in addition to getting a teaching certification, teachers would also have to take the U.S. Citizenship test. 'And this requirement will help Oklahoma lead the way to ensure in every classroom that understanding, is being given,' said Superintendent Walters. However, some believe this isn't the best idea. 'There have been so many efforts in the recent past from the legislature to do things like decrease the number of assessments we have to take to become educators,' said Cari Elledge, the elected President of Oklahoma Education Association. The elected president of the Oklahoma Education Association also said this new rule wouldn't be in Oklahoma's best interest when it comes to getting more teachers to apply for jobs and staying in them. 'This just kind of adds some redundancy to it. And it's one more thing on the plate when they've been trying to take things off the plate of educators,' said Elledge. OSDE passes rule to require citizenship status of families The rule would mean all teachers would take the test, which the OEA said might be easier for those who already teach that content. 'A pre-k teacher, a PE teacher, there are so many different examples of how that would just be an extra hoop to jump through,' said Elledge. The OEA said they will continue to push for ways to help make things more efficient for educators in any way they can. The rules aren't in effect yet. First, they will go through the legislature then head to the governor's desk. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
