February 13, 2025
(Boise) – The Idaho House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation to end taxpayer funding for teachers unions. Introduced by Rep. Judy Boyle (R-Midvale) [pictured here] and Sen. Ben Toews (R-Coeur d’ Alene), House Bill 98 passed by a vote of 40-29. Nineteen Republicans joined all 10 of the chamber’s Democrats in voting against the proposal. If adopted, this Freedom Foundation-supported proposal would make teachers unions more accountable ....
using public payroll systems and personnel to deduct union dues from teachers’ paychecks; contributing taxpayer funds to a teachers union; providing teachers with paid leave to engage in union operations and activism, unless the union reimburses the district for the value of the teacher’s time out of the classroom; paying teachers’ union dues for them with taxpayer funds; providing more of a teacher’s personal information to a union than is disclosable under the Public Records Act, unless the teacher authorizes the disclosure; requiring teachers to meet or interact with a teachers union if they do not wish to do so; and distributing communications or membership solicitations on behalf of a teachers union.
Freedom Foundation research has exhaustively documented the ways in which public funds, resources, time and personnel are used to benefit the Idaho Education Association (IEA), the statewide teachers union. The value of paid time off provided by school districts for teachers to engage in union activism is alone estimated to cost taxpayers about a half-million dollars per year. This equates to about six classroom teachers working for the union full-time, year-round.