NPRI launches billboard campaign to inform teachers of their ability to leave CCEA between July 1 and 15

LAS VEGAS — Multiple billboards throughout the Las Vegas Valley are today alerting Nevada teachers to their right to opt out of the Clark County Education Association between July 1 and July 15, the Nevada Policy Research Institute has announced.

Five digital billboards, resembling the above graphic, will be visible in southwest Las Vegas in the area of the I-15 and I-215 interchange. The billboards will appear through July 15, allowing thousands of teachers to learn of their ability to opt out of CCEA membership between July 1 and 15. Efforts are underway to expand this message to traditional billboards as well.

NPRI Executive Vice President Victor Joecks released the following statement about the billboards that hundreds of thousands of drivers and passengers will see over the next six weeks:

In the past two years, over 1,200 teachers have left the Clark County Education Association, and hundreds or thousands more teachers would like to leave. Unfortunately, teachers can only opt out of CCEA membership by submitting written notice to the union from July 1 to 15.

Coming right in the middle of summer vacation, this is the period teachers can most easily miss.

Union officials know that many knowledgeable teachers feel trapped in a union they have no desire to belong to. That’s the reason for the virtually hidden two-week July opt-out period insisted upon by the union. It allows the union to continue collecting over $770 a year in dues from teachers who can easily make better choices about what’s best for them and their families.

That’s why NPRI wants to let all teachers throughout Clark County know about this limited chance they have to leave CCEA.

Joecks added that teachers can find generic opt-out letters and information on why teachers are leaving CCEA at NevadaTeacherFreedom.com.

Among the many reasons teachers cite as catalysts for leaving the union are:

• Union officials are getting rich off union dues, with one CCEA official pocketing over $1.1 million from the union and union-related groups over a two-year period.
• Opting out of union membership can save members over $770 per year.
• Alternative professional educator associations, like the Association of American Educators, provide better benefits for less money.
• The union uses members’ dues to push political positions, like the destructive margin tax.

NPRI has provided teachers with pre-written letters they can send to their unions to opt out. Clark County teachers may find their letter here, and all other Nevada teachers can find an opt-out letter here.

“Hard as CCEA tries to keep teachers in the dark about their right to leave their union, union bosses can’t censor billboards placed along the busiest stretches of Las Vegas interstates,” Joecks said. “Thanks to the billboards, thousands more educators will be made aware of their ability to make the best decision for themselves and their families.”

After NPRI’s information campaign in 2013, membership in CCEA fell to under 60 percent of teachers.

###