Although the June 2018 Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME freed teachers from being forced to pay dues to their local teachers’ unions if they are not union members, many educators remain unaware of this ruling. Last month, the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) released a documentary called Karin’s Story, which shows how a special education teacher, Karin Majewski, risked her career to escape the PSEA (the Pennsylvania affiliate of the NEA), and help her fellow teachers do the same if they wished.

IW Features is the storytelling platform of the IWF, which produced the documentary. The video opens with Majewski explaining that the teachers’ unions are actually “a money-laundering system of which teachers and taxpayers are unaware,” and later shows how much of it is ultimately used for political purposes.

Karin Majewski is a middle-school teacher in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who has taught for 10 years in the public schools. Initially, she had no issue with the PSEA, and in fact says she knew almost nothing about the union other than that a veteran teacher presented her with the paperwork early on to join, and told her that everyone was doing it. Her eyes were opened in 2020 when the union supported the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all 178,000 PSEA union members, including teachers, support staff, janitors, bus drivers, and other education personnel.

Majewski objected to the mandate, noting in the video that “no one asked my opinion, there was no survey sent out. They were speaking on behalf of everyone, and it was something I strongly disagreed with. I realized my money was going to fund these causes and ideas” regardless of personal beliefs and opinions. At the time, Majewski was paying $150 per month in union dues.

She decided to leave the union, and did her own research to find sources and information in preparation. She discovered the Freedom Foundation, a national non-profit organization that assists all union members, not just educators. “They were the first ones who told me about my Janus rights,” she said, as well as “how to leave the union, when to leave the union, all things I had no idea about.”

The Freedom Foundation also helped her with finding an alternative organization, the Keystone Teachers Association (KEYTA), which educators could join for protection in the event they experienced an issue in the workplace. “They were focused on helping school workers,” Majewski said, rather than being involved in politics. “To me it was a no-brainer to join them.”

After leaving the PSEA, Majewski said she witnessed efforts by union representatives to recruit new teachers and staff members, and confessed that it “began eating me up over time.” According to the IWF, “Thanks to unions’ effective recruitment efforts — which often start before new teachers have even graduated from college — more than 70 percent of teachers are union members, and most incorrectly believe they’ll be penalized if they leave.”

Majewski started a Facebook group designed to educate her peers, but the reach proved too limited for her purposes. She then decided to send an email to all personnel in her school district offering to provide information about their rights and the available alternatives to the PSEA. Minutes after sending the email, she received “a lot” of appreciative responses asking for more information, but she also received emails that were “extremely hateful” and “calling me names.” Most disturbing about these responses, she said, was that her critics seemed to equate “being a good union member” with being “a good educator.”

Shortly, she was summoned by her human resources department, and explained to the director that she sent the email because “there is no [alternative] information out there, no resources.” She pointed out that the PSEA sends out flyers and other materials, and questioned why educators could not also be informed about alternatives. Surprisingly, the director reviewed her sample KEYTA flyers and approved them for posting in district schools.

But as Majewski learned from a colleague who was herself an NEA member, the union told school personnel to remove the alternative flyers. Her reaction? She said: “It really speaks to how much money and power is involved here.” She noted that that the dues money collected is ultimately funneled to support Democrat candidates and promote liberal causes, resulting in such things as more money for Planned Parenthood and “social justice” curricula in the classroom. Longtime observers of the unions will recognize these familiar tactics.

Majewski noted in her video that these types of activities “really have nothing to do” with labor union functions, or to “helping me, or anyone, as an educator. They mandate trainings for teachers [about] unconscious biases and racism in the classroom, which affect the teachers and, in turn, affect how they run their classrooms. It creates a problem where there need not be one.”

Majewski said she understands why teachers are afraid to speak out. “They come for you in college while you’re a student-teacher,” she said. “The unions are also a part of first-year teacher orientation—I remember [the union rep] came up and basically tried to scare everybody.”

She continued: “Every school district is different, and some teachers may receive more backlash than I did.... Legally, you have a right to leave the union if you want to, and there are so many free supports out there.” She observed that a growing community of like-minded educators is emerging and she is comfortable with her decision. “I work really hard for my paychecks, and I want my money to go to places and causes I agree with.”

Majewski’s journey shows that escaping from the teachers’ unions need not be the end of a career, but may in fact be just the beginning. She now has a website packed with information for educators, including state-specific alternative options to the entrenched and highly politicized mainstream unions. Her website connects with other important resources, such as Rebecca Friedrichs’ informative website For Kids And Country, among others.

IW Features co-producer Ashley McClure noted: “Teachers shouldn’t feel coerced into financially supporting organizations that put teacher and student welfare behind politics.... Karin Majewski’s story is proof that you can leave your union, keep your job, and support organizations that align with your beliefs.”

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