Letter Circulating, Urging Pasco Teachers to Opt Out of Union

In the wake of controversial comments made during last Tuesday's Pasco School District School Board meeting by PAE (Pasco Association of Educators) President Scott Wilson, a letter is circulating urging teachers to opt out of the union.

The story about Wilson's comments went viral, national, which included being picked up and reported on by AM 770 KTTH in Seattle and Breitbart.com.

Wilson equated parents who want children to return to class in person, or hybrid, as being guilty of "white privilege."  In another letter "clarifying" his comments, Wilson didn't retract but instead viewed it as a "teaching moment," implying parents-students and others in District are ignorant or need to be educated in the inherent or systemic racism of our society.

Now this week, a letter is being circulated among a variety of education oriented local Facebook pages, reminding Pasco teachers they can legally opt out of the PAE, and urging them to do so.

Some of the text of the letter includes:

"...our union president is paid by our fees to represent ALL teachers in the Pasco School District. This is not a true representation of what we as teachers feel  as we sacrifice and strive to teach students of all colors, cultures and backrounds. Scott Wilson's latest letter to PAE members claims a victory with the school board, and makes no effort to recall his biased, accusatory statements..."

The reason for the opt out letter circulating was given as follows:

"...With much research it was made clear that a "recall" of our PAE President would be a nearly impossible feat. But what would make the Washington Education Association and Pasco Association of Educators hear our rejection of our President's views is to OPT OUT of the union as we are now legally able to do in the state of Washington."

The letter goes on to list how much in dues are paid by teachers each month, and by dropping out (especially in larger numbers) it will impact the union financially. The letter says even if 'just' 10 were to leave, it would subtract some $13,000 annually.  The letter also points readers to the website OptOutToday.com, which is a project of the Freedom Foundation.

It lists all the legalities and rights teachers have in each state for participating in teacher's unions, or not. It also lists how to go about doing it.  The website lists ALL unions that operate in each state.

We do not know if any teachers have taken up this offer. We have unconfirmed reports there have been some, but we have not seen them ourselves.

To see the Washington state section of OptOutToday.com, click on the button below.

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