By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

VIERA, Fla. – Teachers in Florida’s ninth-largest school district are considering dropping the Brevard Federation of Teachers as their bargaining representative, in favor of a more “aggressive” and “political” union.

More aggressive and political than the American Federation of Teachers, the BVT’s parent union? That’s a frightening thought.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

The Brevard Times reports that nearly 50 Brevard teachers met with leaders from the Coastal Florida Public Employees Association (CFPEA) to discuss the possible switch. CFPEA President Vince Champion told the teachers they need 2,000 of their colleagues to sign an Authorization for Representation card to force a vote on the matter.

“If you choose us, we know how to negotiate contracts. That’s what we do,” Champion said, according to the Brevard Times.

Apparently that’s not all the CFPEA knows how to do.

A CFPEA brochure brags that the union has “a solid political action program that is both feared and respected by politicians across Florida.”

The brochure adds that “the CFPEA has a well-deserved reputation for effectiveness in electing friends of working people and to defeat anti-employee politicians.”

Sounds like the CFPEA wouldn’t rest until the entire Brevard school board was filled with union puppets. That should be a terrifying prospect for Brevard parents and taxpayers.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

Kim Hunt, one of the teachers at the initial CFPEA meeting, said “money and working conditions” were the main reasons a possible switch is being explored.

“I tried to work within the union and felt I wasn’t being listened to,” Hunt told the Brevard Times.

It appears that BFT leaders aren’t extreme enough for some rank-and-file members. If the teachers agree to make the CFPEA its bargaining representative, it could shatter any sense of labor peace that currently exists in the Brevard school district.

Nobody is suggesting that having an AFT affiliate representing teachers is healthy for any school district. It certainly is not. But these teachers appear to want to go from radical to off-the-chart radical.

The CFPEA represents some 40 agencies in Florida, mostly in the law enforcement community. The union does not currently represent any teachers, the news site reports.