Groups To Unite To Speak as Alternative to Unions

By Daniel Gursky

A loose coalition of independent associations of nonunion educators has taken the first steps toward incorporation in an attempt to become a national alternative to the dominant teachers' unions.

Meeting last month in South Carolina, the National Conference of Independent Professional Education Associations adopted bylaws and explored funding sources with an eye to incorporating in the Washington area by the end of the year and eventually opening a national headquarters with a full-time director.

"We need to inform national elected officials that there are groups out there that represent educators who are not part of the [National Education Association] or [the American Federation of Teachers],'' Doug Rogers, the executive director of the 54,000-member Association of Texas Professional Educators, said in an interview. His group is the largest affiliate...