Union: All county teachers should pay 'Fair Share' dues

While most of the attention in the acrimonious dispute between the teachers' union and county schools has focused on the visceral topic of salaries, another issue has quietly smoldered out of public view: whether the union should be allowed to collect dues from non-union teachers.

Central Middle School teacher Don Patterson described it as the "huge white elephant sitting in the middle of the room."

The common name for this dues collection is "Fair Share," and it's been an underlying point of contention between the Board of Education and the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County during recent negotiations.

Fair...