Teachers in a southwest Kansas school district have joined teachers in four other districts in leaving the state’s main teachers union.

Teachers in Spearville, which is near Dodge City, voted on Wednesday to leave the Kansas National Education Association. They will join the Association of American Educators, which provides services but does not bargain for teacher contracts.

The other districts that have decertified in the past year are Deerfield, Caldwell, Vermillion and Rolla.

The Kansas State Department of Education website says Spearville employs about 30 teachers. The five districts that decertified employ about 145 teachers.

The KNEA says it still has about 25,000 members in Kansas. The Kansas affiliate of the AAE says it has about 1,300 members.

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Associated Press information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal