By the numbers
Here are the membership numbers for teachers unions for Tippecanoe and Lafayette school corporations:

TSC

  • 2011-12: 420 members or 67 percent of teachers
  • 2012-13: 400 members or 62 percent of teachers
  • 2013-14: 341 members or 51 percent of teachers
  • 2014-15: 310 members or 46 percent of teachers

LSC

  • 2011-12: 400 members or 67 percent of teachers
  • 2012-13: 381 members or 69 percent of teachers
  • 2013-14: 354 members or 64 percent of teachers
  • 2014-15: 332 members or 56 percent of teachers
In 2011, teacher union leaders were neck deep in a losing battle against state lawmakers pushing a bill to curtail collective bargaining rights for teachers.

The bill passed easily, limiting negotiations for teaching contracts to just wages and wage-related benefits.

The fear was that the law would weaken teachers unions and erode teacher protection against vindictive or incompetent administrators.

Four years later, did that bargaining law — one piece of a coordinated, Republican-driven education reform agenda that included private school vouchers and teacher merit pay — enact the damage union leaders predicted at the time?

Local union leaders say their relationships with local school officials remain collaborative despite the law. But they acknowledge that in most cases — just as it is in teacher unions across the county — their membership numbers are dropping.

  • The Lafayette Education Association saw a 17 percent drop in the past four school years; membership decreased from 400 members, or 67 percent of Lafayette School Corp. teachers, in September 2011 to 332 members, or 56 percent of teachers, in September 2014.
  • The Tippecanoe Education Association saw a 26 percent drop during that same time period — dropping from 420 members, or 67 percent of Tippecanoe School Corp. teachers, to 310 members, or 46 percent.

West Lafayette Community School Corp. officials and union leaders were unable to provide similar data for the West Lafayette Education Association. But WLEA president Randy Studt said that union hasn't been immune to the decrease.
Copyright © 2024 www.jconline.com