The Minnesota Republican Party canceled a meeting of Republican union teachers at their headquarters this evening over concerns that the group was excluding people from outside the union.

A group of union members called the meeting with the GOP to form an "education caucus within the party," according to a post on Education Minnesota's website. "The goal was to get union members active, Republican union members active," said organizer Tom Schoper. "That's what the goal was."

The group's views would likely be a stark contrast to the politics of the union itself, which has strong alliances to DFL lawmakers and causes.

GOP Chair Tony Sutton canceled the meeting this afternoon because, as he understood it, the group was limited to union members. He noted that the union typically opposes GOP education reforms.

"Our idea is a little broader," Sutton said. "All teachers: private school, charter school, public school union teachers. They want to limit it just to union teachers."

He added: "Until we get on the same page on some of these things, I just felt it was better to cancel the meeting and make sure we don't have competing visions here."

Schoper said they hadn't "gotten that far" to determine whether non-union members would be included in the group.

What's the next step?

"The next step is I don't know," Schoper said. "I was surprised by this."