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.

Contents

• Definition of Terms
  
  
• Collection and Validity of the Data
  
  

• 1. All 583 Michigan Government School Districts Have Unionized Teachers
  
  
• Table 1 - Michigan Student Population by School Type
  
  
• 2. Only 5 out of 139 Michigan Charter Schools Have Unionized Teachers
  
  
• Table 2 - Unionization in Michigan Charter Schools
  
  
• 3. Only 2 out of 782 Michigan Private Schools Have Unionized Teachers
  
  

• History of Public-Sector Unionization in Michigan Government Schools
  
  
• How School Employee Labor Unions Politicize Government Schools