RANDOLPH, Vt. -
Sitting quietly behind his desk American history teacher Brian Rainville isn't thinking about his next lesson plan, he's weighing his options.
"One of them is voting with my feet," said Rainville.
The Randolph Union High School teacher is upset because Vermont lawmakers are considering forcing him to pay a union fee even though he's not a member.
"Once you say we can force this minority to pay this fee, even though they oppose it, who's the next fellow in line?" said Rainville.
To some lawmakers it's not about a fundamental choice, they say it comes down to money and the fact that the non-members are seeing an added benefit without paying a dime.
"They wouldn't turn down a pay rise or a health benefit that was negotiated by the union because they don't want to be a member of the union. They would accept that," said State Sen. Kevin Mullin.
"Do I need to thank them for my paycheck? I need to thank the taxpayers of this community, the administrators who hired me and the students I work with," said Rainville.
If passed, non-union educators would pay upwards of $17 dollars a pay period or nearly $450 dollars a year.
And with about 2,000 people that would be forced to pay, that's almost $900,000 dollars given to the union.
Money some lawmakers say it needs to cover legal and other expenses.
But Rainville says it's like going back to a time period where people had fewer rights.
"We're going back to 1628," said Rainville.
The bill passed the Vermont state senate last week.
It will be looked at in the house sometime next month.
