Opinion: Why do teachers continue to pay union dues?

Dick Rylander examines union dues and the Janus Supreme Court decision as local teacher contracts come up for renewal. Photo courtesy File photo

🎧 Why Teachers Still Pay Union Dues After Janus Ruling

Dick Rylander says given the upcoming area teachers union contracts up for renewal this year (Camas, Evergreen and Battle Ground) it’s important to understand factors impacting decisions and actions.

Dick Rylander for Clark County Today

Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 (585 U.S. 878, 2018) is a landmark Supreme Court decision concerning the power of labor unions to collect fees from non-union members. The Court ruled that public-sector union fees for non-members violate the First Amendment right to free speech, overruling the 1977 precedent set in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.

Dick Rylander

The decision was decided 5–4, with Justice Alito writing for the majority, joined by Justices Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, and Gorsuch.

The core legal holding

The Court held that forcing free and independent individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable raises serious First Amendment concerns — including compelling a person to subsidize the speech of other private speakers. Supreme Court of the United States In other words, requiring public employees to pay “agency fees” to a union they didn’t join was treated as compelled speech, not merely a financial arrangement.

Immediate practical consequences

For workers: As a result of Janus, more than five million public-sector employees across the country are no longer required to pay union dues as a condition of employment. Liberty Justice Center

For unions: Since the decision, unions have lost members and money — though the impact has been blunted by new state laws passed to boost their fortunes. Manhattan Institute

Surprisingly limited membership collapse: There was little change in the numbers of dues-paying members; AFSCME retained 94% of its members. Unions had anticipated the ruling and prepared aggressively through internal organizing campaigns and member engagement programs.

Broader political and labor implications

Anti-union conservative organizations celebrated the decision. The National Right to Work Foundation described Janus as “a massive step forward in the fight to protect American workers from forced unionism” and boasted of depriving unions of hundreds of millions of dollars. American Bar Association

Critics saw it very differently. Opponents argued the decision harms working people and their families, turning its back on the long and important history of the labor movement — noting that organized labor helps even the field between management and employees so workers don’t have to stand alone. Aft

Skepticism toward exclusive representation: Justice Alito’s opinion introduced a note of skepticism about exclusive representation itself, suggesting it was “a significant impingement on associational freedoms that would not be tolerated in other contexts” — leaving the door open for a future Court to go further. Manhattan Institute

The bottom line

Janus was the most significant blow to public-sector unions in decades, eliminating a major funding mechanism and creating a structural “free rider” problem where non-members receive union benefits without contributing. Yet the predicted collapse of public unions hasn’t materialized — largely because unions mobilized proactively. The longer-term legal question of whether Janus‘s logic could eventually be used to challenge the exclusive representation model itself remains unresolved.

In the fiscal year ending in August 2025, the National Education Association (NEA) collected approximately $390 million in membership dues and agency fees. This amount represented the majority of the NEA’s total receipts, which reached roughly $454 million for the period.

At the state level, dues vary significantly by location. For instance, Pennsylvania teachers paid around $834 annually in 2025, while teachers in California paid more than $1,000 annually for state and national union membership In Chicago, full-time teachers paid $1,476.26 in annual dues for the 2025–26 school year, while paraprofessionals paid $858.34.

Given the upcoming local teachers union contracts up for renewal this year (Camas, Evergreen and Battle Ground) it’s important to understand factors impacting decisions and actions. For the 2024–25 school year, Washington state teacher union dues are structured as follows through the Washington Education Association (WEA): Certificated teachers (Cert): $737 annually (includes special assessments). Educational support professionals (ESP):$565 annually.