This year, the school director candidates endorsed by KASD Children First PAC were contacted by our local teachers’ union, the Kutztown Education Association (KEA), concerning an endorsement process. Our candidates politely declined on the ground that it was a conflict of interest. The KEA continually has official business with our School District, including negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
But as it turns out, the endorsement was not from the KEA, but from the PSEA PAC, a political committee controlled by the Pennsylvania State Education Association. The PSEA PAC proceeded to endorse the Democrat school director candidates in our school district, that is, Laurel Ziegler and Caecilia Holt (Kutztown Borough), Dennis Ritter and Char Horst (Maxatawny and Lyons), and Charles M. Brown (Albany, Greenwich, and Lenhartsville).
In 2018, public employees won a constitutional challenge over the right to leave a labor union in the case of Janus v. AFSCME. Since then, teachers have been leaving their unions in droves. A report in 2022 noted 80,000 teachers who left their union across the country. Among those who exercised their Janus rights include Dan Wismer, our endorsed school director candidate in Albany, Greenwich, and Lenhartsville.
A report from the Americans for Fair Treatment estimate that the PSEA “spends $1 out of every $5 of member dues representing teachers, support staff, and other members. The rest of the membership dues money goes towards running the union, politics, and lobbying.”
It's time for voters in our school district to realize what the PSEA stands for and why an endorsement by the PSEA PAC should not be seen favorably.
PSEA Accuses Parents of White Supremacy
The PSEA embraces and perpetuates the narrative that our culture is built on the premise of white supremacy. As recently as 2021, they offered training (see image at right) for educators called Nice White Parents, where they look at the “key driver in what is blocking educational integration and equity: the actions of White families.”
The National Education Association (NEA), the parent affiliate of PSEA, is no better. In 2022, the NEA considered Business Items (look for highlighted items starting on pg. 8) for directing their funds on topics such as lobbying for abortion rights and fighting to overturn laws across the country which prohibit transgender surgery in minors. Clearly, these issues do not affect teachers in their capacity as educators.
PSEA Opposes Parental Rights Bills
Recently, two bills came before the PA State Senate supporting parental rights.
SB7 would protect children from sexually explicit materials in schools. It would simply require schools to notify parents about materials that are sexually explicit and require their child be given a non-explicit alternative. If parents wish for their children to have access to this material, they will have the ability to opt-in.
SB 340 would allow parents to easily access what materials are being used to teach their children. SB 340 specifically requires school districts to post on their website a link to textbook titles, course syllabus, summary of each offered instructional course, and the state academic standards for each course offered by the school.
Shockingly, the PSEA issued a Critical Alert (see below) encouraging their members to call their Senators to OPPOSE this legislation.
Thankfully, these common-sense bills passed the State Senate and now head to the House for consideration, despite the opposition from the PSEA.
If this is what the PSEA stands for, then why would the Democrat candidates in the Kutztown Area School District want to be associated with the PSEA? That is, of course, unless they agree with the PSEA on these issues!
Spending More on Politics than Defending Teachers
The biggest benefit of joining a teachers’ union is to obtain representation in case a school district would violate any policies or contract rights. But an organization called Union Choice for School Workers recently released some alarming information about the NEA. In 2021, out of the $377 million obtained from teachers’ union dues, only $32 million was devoted to representational activities for their members. A whopping $66 million was spent on political lobbying.
The NEA doesn’t disguise it anymore. Their website announces to the public that they are social justice activists, stating the “NEA engages and mobilizes activists in the effort for racial, social, and economic justice in public schools and on campuses. / We are building and growing a community of activists committed to advancing social justice policies in public education.”
The NEA/PSEA platforms are loaded with activism. They literally want to use your tax-payer dollars to transform our students into Marxists.
On Tuesday, November 7, 2023, we cannot allow that to happen. Please vote for school director candidates who will respect parental rights and the need for our schools to be politically neutral. Those values are advanced by our PAC-supported candidates: Steve Morris and Brad Myers (Kutztown Borough), Dennis Udicious and Reba Cortés Hoffman (Maxatawny and Lyons), and Dan Wismer (Albany, Greenwich, and Lenhartsville).
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