Educators Can Opt Out of Teachers Unions Starting July 1

Kevin Dietrich

Public school employees tired of unions telling them how to teach, who to vote for and why narrow special interests are more important than students will be able to make their feelings known next month.

Beginning July 1, Nevada educators will have a two-week period when they can opt out of teachers unions.

Why is this important? Because in recent years teachers unions have become political machines, organizing public school employees for political activities and lobbying, and pushing candidates for office.

Teachers are treated like automatons through a union-enforced pay structure which rewards the old guard with back-end loaded salary increases at the expense of younger teachers. In addition, unions do very little to ensure excellence among its members, instead running interference for even the most inept instructors.

A 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed that non-union workers cannot be forced to pay fees to public-sector unions. In Nevada, the powers that be still work to make it as difficult as possible for education employees to leave unions, giving them only the July 1-15 period each year to opt out.

Opting out not only allows educators to cut the cord with politically motivated teachers unions but can save them hundreds of dollars a year in dues.

To exercise your freedom to opt out of a teachers union, click here.

Kevin Dietrich

Kevin Dietrich

Director of Mainstream Media

Kevin Dietrich joined Nevada Policy in 2022 and currently serves as the Director of Mainstream Media.

He has more than 20 years of experience in communications, including serving as the director of communications and marketing for the South Carolina Bankers Association, working as a speechwriter for South Carolina governor Mark Sanford and assisting with internal communications for CVS Caremark.

Kevin graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in Journalism and a minor in History. A fifth-generation Californian, he spent a decade as a journalist, working for newspapers in Florida, New York, New Hampshire and South Carolina.