By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The line separating powerful teacher union bosses from run-of-the-mill felons just got a little blurrier.

Former Broward Teachers Union President Pat Santeramo was arrested and jailed earlier this week, after being charged with a variety of felonies, including racketeering, grand theft, money laundering and fraud, reports the Sun-Sentinel.com.

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If convicted, Santeramo faces 30 years in prison.

The former head of the 11,500-member union “is accused of stealing about $300,000 of union funds through kickbacks from a contractor, sick and vacation pay obtained through a forged document, and personal use of BTU credit cards,” the Sun Sentinel reports.

Bizzy Jenkins, a Broward County educator, told WPTV.com that union members are already leaving the BTU “in droves, not only because of the impropriety, but the way money is being spent, and the fact that we haven’t gotten a raise. Some people feel, ‘Why am I spending $600 (for union dues) a year? What am I getting for it?’”

Jenkins’ questions are being echoed by teachers all across the nation. Many educators are concluding that their unions don’t represent their best interests or even their political views. Many teachers are either canceling their union membership, or tchoosing to pay a legally mandated “service fee” to the union instead. As a result, the National Education Association is projecting a membership drop of more than 300,000 by 2014.

The Santeramo case is another reminder that teacher union leaders often have a financial and political agenda that has nothing to do with improving public education, and has everything to do with enriching and empowering themselves.