The Associated Press
September 27^th, 2000

New woes bedevil teachers union: WEA accused of illegal use of fees

OLYMPIA - Less than three years after paying one of the largest campaign-finance penalties in state history, the union that represents Washington state public-school teachers is in trouble again.

The five-member Public Disclosure Commission unanimously concluded yesterday that the Washington Education Association (WEA) illegally used "agency fees" paid by 4,194 nonmembers to help fund its political agenda.

The WEA acknowledged multiple violations of a state law but called it an accounting error.

"We're going to fix it. It's that simple," union spokesman Rich Wood said.

"We look forward to having some clear guidelines on this issue."

The commission, limited by law to issuing no more than a $2,500 fine, referred the matter to Attorney General Christine Gregoire to pursue after settlement talks failed. Gregoire can reopen talks or ask a court to consider penalties.

The case marked a partial victory for the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based policy group run by the Republican Party's 1988 nominee for governor, Bob Williams.

It was a partial victory because the commission dismissed a second - and far more significant - complaint by the foundation that accused the state's 296 local school districts of withholding dues from WEA members even though the districts had been advised that some of the money would be spent for political purposes.

The foundation contended that the union must get annual written permission from each member before using dues to fund its political agenda, but the commission said a recent decision by the state Supreme Court indicated otherwise.

Since the commission rejected the claim, the foundation now is free to sue the districts.

The union, originally accused of failing to correctly report hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions in the 1996 elections, agreed to pay $430,000 in fines and refunds under a settlement.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org

Quotables:

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson

"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." - John Stuart Mill