As school choice heads for the 2000 ballot in Michigan, it is important for citizens to
understand how proposals including K-12 vouchers and tuition tax credits will affect the
school employee unions that exert such a powerful influence on the state’s public
school system.
This study examines union membership rates among Michigan’s public, charter, and
private school teachers and found that while teachers in every public school district are
represented by-and pay dues to-a union, only 5 out of 139 charter and 2 out of over one
thousand private schools employ unionized workforces.
The study concludes that school employee unions-including the Michigan Education
Association and the Michigan Federation of Teachers-have powerful political and financial
incentives to spend millions of dollars to prevent more parents from being able to choose
non-unionized charter or private schools for their children.
