Thursday morning the Tennessee Senate will consider a payroll deduction bill that will provide teachers with an option to get politics out of their paychecks. For many, it will also provide equal access to payroll deduction for dues payment for groups other than the increasingly liberal activism of the teachers’ union, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA). There are currently five active teacher associations across the state that serve educators. Professional Educators of Tennessee (PET), a non-partisan association and the TEA, a union, are the most active statewide. There is also the American Federation of Teachers, Christian Educators Association International and the American Association of Educators. In Memphis, the local-only Memphis-Shelby County Education Association represents teachers’ interests. The Memphis group broke away from the state association over philosophical differences, in a very publicized dispute. Keith Williams spoke about it in the Truth About the Tennessee Education Association. In most counties, the TEA has been the only group granted payroll deduction. Senate Bill 482, sponsored by Senator Todd Gardenhire, could level that playing field. In some states, like Texas, multiple teacher groups exist and the process for payroll deduction for dues payments is available to all such groups. These competing groups…
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