Florida teacher's union loses thousands of members

The Florida Education Association, the state's largest union, lost over 4,500 members in the 2020-2021 school year, the first full school year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The union had a 3.3% drop in membership, according to the outlet RealClearPolicy on Tuesday.

When asked whether the numbers were accurate, a spokesperson for the union told Just the News that " the 2020-21 numbers are quite dated as [sic] this point." 

In response to being asked why membership is down, the spokesperson said the union has 150,000 members throughout the state and "membership is fluid and changes constantly with retirements and new hires."

However, on its website, the organization said that the state has a teacher shortage – which could have resulted in the decline in teacher union membership.

In comparison, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, both of which are affiliated with Florida's union, lost just over 2% of their members. 

One reason the associations are losing members may be due to union policies regarding in-person schooling during the COVID pandemic, says Ashley Varner, a spokesperson for the Freedom Foundation, a non-profit, anti-union group.

"Across the country, 'Zoom schools' gave parents a first-hand look at what propaganda was being forced on their children," she said.