Johnson County, Tennessee Teachers Have Representation Choices Beyond NEA, TEA

Below is the text of a letter to the editor that I sent to The Tomahawk, the weekly newspaper for Mountain City, Tennessee, wherein the school at which I am employed is located. I sent the letter around the first of the month, and to my knowledge, a print version of it has not been published. 

I worry, though, that the content was leaked to someone in the district such that while the information did not get published, it did get shared. I present it to you and ask that you do some research to see how NEA dominates the negotiation process with school districts in even the most-conservative of Tennessee counties. Trust me when I tell you that if the leftist influence of NEA is entrenched in Johnson County, there is no place it hasn't reached or can't influence eventually. 

For a long while, teachers who want organizational representation in Tennessee have had limited options. Often, these options do not represent their core values, nor do they represent the broader core values of the communities within which they work. 

The radical American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has dominated teacher representation in some districts in East Tennessee, while in others, the National Association of Educators (NEA) seems to hold a monopolistic grasp. This occurence seems strange, given the region's political demographics. According to OpenSecrets, in 2024, 98.24% of political contributions from NEA went to democratic candidates, up from 92% in 2022. 

Headlines like, "National teachers’ unions have contributed over $660 million to far-left organizations and leftwing political groups" and "How Teachers’ Unions Became Political Big Spenders" are common. Yet, many in East Tennessee who might not be familiar with organizations such as NEA (and its state affiliate, Tennessee Education Association, or TEA) and AFT might assume these organizations focus solely on offering legal protection, discounts, and other benign services to educators. 

Certainly, these organizations do a lot of good for teachers. The local TEA chapter in Johnson County does good work, but it is apparent to me that the chapter works to make sure it remains the "only game in town" so that its members can dominate negotiation processes with the school district. Options are available beyond NEA/TEA for Johnson County educators. 

For example, Professional Educators of Tennessee, of which I am a member, aims to provide "educators with the Protection, Advocacy and Resources that will help them be successful in the classroom." They do so while seeking political neutrality, and their dues are significantly less expensive than NEA/TEA's. 

The Teacher Freedom Alliance is relatively new on the scene, but they offer free membership that includes substantial liability insurance, and they are an overtly-conservative organization. Further, they allow members to have other organizational memberships as well. I am a member of PET and TFA, for example. I feel this pairing better reflects my values as a conservative/classical liberal educator working in a traditionally conservative part of the nation than membership in TEA allows. 

Further, given Johnson County's history as a deep-red community, I feel TFA especially reflects the values of this area. Of course, as a former vice president of an NEA chapter in North Carolina, I have seen things that helped me seek out alternatives that others might not have seen. 

I can't help but think, though, that in a community that sometimes has issues with the general public feeling confident in some of its public education institutions, a teacher force that was willing to show its appreciation for the culture of the community by embracing representation rooted in conservative values might just convince the broader community that things are not as disjointed as they might seem.