Independent
Teachers across the country have joined independent education associations for decades. The Keystone Teachers Association (KEYTA) is Pennsylvania’s leading and largest independent educator association in Pennsylvania.
KEYTA members are not bound to funding multiple levels of a unified organizational structure and, as a result we are able to provide many services more economically.
There are over 500,000 non-union educators represented by independent education associations nationwide, mostly from what was considered “right-to-work” states, where unions were not allowed to charge forced union or fair share fees.
Recently, more teachers across the country are realizing that they no longer want to be attached to their expensive national and state associations. In doing so, they have cut ties, by disaffiliating or disassociating, with the teacher unions that provide the three-tiered unified membership status. These local groups now obtain their professional association benefits from their state independent group or are self-managed.
Over the past few years, the teachers unions have lost large groups like the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association in Tennessee, the Carmel Teachers Association in Indiana, the Santa Rosa Professional Educators in Florida, and the 20,000-strong bargaining unit of the Clark County Education Association in Nevada. These groups now operate their own local-only teachers unions. Smaller teacher groups nation-wide have also been decertifying the status quo, three-tiered union bureaucracies and starting their own local-only groups as well.
KEYTA has worked with teacher groups, here in Pennsylvania, who wished to decertify their state and national unions and set up their own local-only union. If you and your colleagues are dissatisfied with your current unions, feel free to contact us at 717-763-1168 to learn more about how to set up your own local-only teachers union and keep bargaining control in your district.
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