MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A 2010 state law that bars Alabama school districts from deducting union dues from teachers’ paychecks is finally allowed to take effect – after surviving a drawn-out legal challenge – but some school leaders are still dragging their feet on implementing it.

In a recent letter to school superintendents, Deputy Superintendent of Education Craig Pouncey advised the K-12 leaders that they needed to begin following the ban or run the risk of being charged with a Class A misdemeanor, TimesDaily.com reports.

A number of superintendents, however, appear more afraid of running afoul of the Alabama Education Association (AEA), the state’s powerful teachers union.

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TimesDaily.com reports these superintendents will continue the practice of automatic dues deductions while their school district attorneys study the issue.

It’s not obvious what needs to be studied. The state law banning payroll dues deductions applies to any organization that uses any portion of members’ dues for political activities – a condition that applies to the AEA, according to a recent federal court ruling.

For their part, AEA officials are doing their best to intimidate district leaders into continuing the practice. The unionists sent a letter to Alabama superintendents – on the heels of Pouncey’s letter – telling them each school board needs to confer with their local teachers union before making any policy changes, TimesDaily.com reports.

The 100,000-member union obviously wants to preserve the automatic dues deductions as long as it can so it’ll have more money to try and elect lawmakers in November who will vote to overturn the ban.

The AEA is widely acknowledged as a major player in Alabama’s political scene, but that could change dramatically if union leaders have to manually collect the $501 they receive each year from individual teachers.

AEA leaders must fear that many of those teachers will stop writing checks to the union. If that happens, it could shrink the union’s political war chest – and its influence in the state capital – considerably.

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In the meantime, Alabama citizens should be thankful for school leaders such as Bill Hopkins, the superintendent of Morgan County schools.

Hopkins told TimesDaily.com his district is going to get advice from its attorneys on the controversy, “but our default (position) is to follow Pouncey’s recommendation.”