The Sutherland Institute asks: “Are Utah teachers being bullied into joining unions?”

One Utah teacher may have been blacklisted for speaking out against unions, reveals a new video released by conservative Utah think tank, Sutherland Institute.

Utah teacher Cole Kelley spoke in favor of Senate Bill 82, which would have leveled the playing field for all teacher organizations, in February. A week later, he was released from his position as athletic director at the Alpine School District. According to Charty Smith, the Utah Membership Director of the Association of American Educators, “because he’s willing to stand up, because he knows what’s right…it seems as though he is being blacklisted.”

Smith claims that other teachers are afraid of joining her organization, which represents non-union teachers, because they are afraid of being blacklisted. Kelley did not want to appear on camera or speak to the Institute.

Rhonda Bromley, the Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent of the Alpine School District, told Sutherland Institute that Kelley testifying in favor of SB 82 had nothing to do with his release. Bromley claims that there were other reasons, such as a result of Kelley not fulfilling Utah state deadlines on filing paperwork.

Some teachers no longer feel that the teachers unions are representing. Allyson White, a special education teacher at Syracuse High School, said that when she first became a teacher, “I felt like joining the union was my liability insurance. I’ve found out that is so not the case.” She said that the unions have a lot of power and can make things difficult for teachers in terms of how others see them.

Senate Bill 82 did not pass. According to the Sutherland Institute, the bill “would have required all local school boards to establish a registry of education employee associations” and would have made a “financial penalty if an association did not have equal access to school activities.”

Smith told the Sutherland Institute, “our teachers deserve to have a choice in what professional association they join.”

Editorial Staff

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