Teachers unions were exposed during the pandemic for the destruction they caused.
They have been on the defensive ever since.
And a Miami teachers union lost one nasty fight with Ron DeSantis that could wreck them.
Ron DeSantis curbs the power of teachers unions
Teachers unions have long been one of the worst institutions in the country, but the pandemic pulled back the curtain on their destructive influence.
They fought to keep schools closed and were responsible for inserting divisive left-wing indoctrination like critical race theory and radical gender ideologies into the classroom curriculum.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 256 into law in 2023 to curb the power of teachers unions and other public employee unions.
The bill required that public employee unions have 60% of their members paying dues or face potential decertification.
Most of the unions were formed before any of the current employees started working there.
The 60% threshold now keeps unions from remaining in place that do not have any support among its membership.
Florida’s largest teachers union could be decertified
The United Teachers of Dade representing the school Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Miami, Florida is one of the largest teachers unions in the country.
But the union is fighting for its life because of the law that DeSantis signed.
The United Teachers of Dade is in a battle for its life after it fell under the 60% dues-paying member threshold.
Now, the union which represents about 24,000 teachers in the school district is facing an election to keep its certification.
“This law is designed to kill unions by 1,000 cuts,” United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernández-Mats said.
Teachers will vote to see if the union remains, is abolished, or the competing Miami-Dade Education Coalition, a new group that wants to stay out of politics takes over.
The Miami-Dade Education Coalition wants to cut ties with national unions, end political involvement, and reduce union dues.
Critics claim that the group is a stalking horse designed to pull voters aways from United Teachers of Dade to kill the union off.
United Teachers of Dade needs to get 50% of the vote to survive.
Losing the United Teachers of Dade would be a blow to Florida Democrats.
The union provides volunteers and millions of dollars to Democrat candidates every election cycle.
Teachers pay about $1,000 a year in union dues every year and much of that money is sent to its national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers.
Hernandez-Mats served as the Lieutenant Governor nominee for Florida Democrats in the 2022 Midterm Election.
“All I can say is that old union in Miami-Dade fought tooth and nail to keep kids locked out of school,” DeSantis said in June before the election. “They did not want kids in person during COVID, and they’ve worked really hard to push a political agenda, which is not what we need in our schools.”
DeSantis has put parents first when it comes to their kid’s education.
Now, he is breaking the stranglehold that teachers unions have over the classroom in Florida.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
