Viewpoint: Let Oklahoma teachers control their own paychecks

Editor's Note: This column is submitted by a candidate running for election. Its publication does not constitute The Oklahoman's endorsement of the candidate or his views. The Oklahoman does not endorse candidates for public office.

Oklahoma teachers deserve our respect and appreciation. One way is through greater earnings potential. As I’ve spoken about publicly, I’d like to see a pathway to six-figure salaries for dedicated and high-performing educators in our state. But another way to demonstrate our appreciation is to give teachers more control over those earnings. That means never forcing them to financially support any organization or political entity — including unions.

As an Oklahoma teacher myself, and as someone who now hears from teachers across the state every day, I consider this a serious problem. That is why I urge my friends and colleagues in the Oklahoma  Legislature to pass legislation that would put decision-making power back in the hands of teachers.

The proposed law would offer two important provisions:

• First, legislation would ensure that teachers are empowered to make the personal decision of whether to join a union.
• Second, it will make union membership an opt-in process rather than opt-out process.

Oklahoma has long been a state that celebrates the freedoms established by our forefathers and protects our nation’s constitutional rights. We know that these freedoms require constant protection. Now our state leaders can step up and protect those freedoms for our state’s educators.

Teachers often join a union during their first year of teaching to establish camaraderie with their fellow educators. Some may join under peer pressure from union representatives, who make signup seem like a simple extension of first-year paperwork.

When a teacher decides to leave the union, however, the opt-out process is anything but simple. Teachers may face pressure to stay, encounter arbitrary opt-out windows and run into logistical hassles. Time-strapped and focused on their students’ needs, some teachers just continue paying union dues. In fact, some spend years paying dues to a union that doesn’t represent their interests or that supports a political agenda at odds with their own values.

Under the opt-in system, teachers will have the opportunity once a year to determine whether they want to continue membership and paying union dues. The opportunity will be presented to them; they won’t have to carve time out of their hectic week to chase it down. This opt-in process puts membership decisions squarely in teachers’ hands and does so on their own terms. 

Other states, most recently Indiana, have taken similar measures for their teachers. I’m excited to see Oklahoma now poised to make progress, too.

I understand the high stress that comes with the job. And I applaud those who show up every single day for our state’s children. These dedicated women and men work days, nights and weekends, committing far more hours than just those spent in the classroom. When a student needs extra help, teachers stay late. When budgets are tight, they purchase classroom supplies with their own money. They are entrusted with preparing Oklahoma’s children for successful adult lives, a duty they take seriously.

That’s why, as secretary of education, I want to make certain that teachers have the freedom, the resources and the respect to thrive in the classroom for years to come.

Our state can begin by solidifying some basic facts. Oklahoma teachers have First Amendment rights. They get to choose whether to join, or remain a member of, a union. And they decide for themselves whether part of their hard-earned paycheck goes to support a union.

Ryan Walters is Oklahoma’s secretary of education.