What happens when a teacher finds himself at odds with his union s positions on issues that have little to do with education? In the case of Dennis Robey, very little happened for a very long time. Robey, a religious Christian who tithes, is an industrial arts teacher at a high school in Huber Heights, Ohio. In 1994, he picked up an NEA pamphlet and was unpleasantly surprised to find out the union s positions on gay rights, abortion, and student access to birth control were directly opposite to his personal faith.

Citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1974, Robey immediately applied to have the non-bargaining portion of his union dues refunded and to retain his membership in through a simple agency fee which would pay for collective bargaining only. Despite repeated letters and threats of legal action, it was seven years before Robey got the response he wanted compliance with the law, and a diversion of non-bargaining funds to mutually-agreed upon charities.

Nationally, only 1 percent of the NEA s 2.7 million members are fee payers rather than union members.