Tennessee School Boards Push Fight Against Unions

[NashVegas]

Source: The Tennessean

The driving force behind a new bill that would strip Tennessee teachers of their collective bargaining rights is the group on the other side of the bargaining table — the Tennessee School Boards Association.

The bill, which was written with the guidance of the school boards association and introduced in the state House last week, would ban teachers unions or other professional organizations from negotiating on teachers' behalf on issues of salary, benefits or disciplinary actions. Instead, school boards would be able to act unilaterally.

"This has been one of our legislative priorities for years," said Lee Harrell, director of government and labor relations for the Tennessee School Boards Association. "Legislative legal services drafted the bill after conversations with TSBA."

The school boards argue that eliminating collective bargaining for teachers would not hurt their salaries and would save districts time and energy they spend negotiating with teachers unions. While the majority of Tennessee teachers use collective bargaining to renegotiate their contracts, the association argues that salaries are not significantly different in the 45 school systems that do not — including Franklin and
Lebanon schools.

Union officials say the reason salaries are comparable in non-negotiating school districts is that they have to keep their salaries competitive with neighboring districts that do have collective bargaining power.

Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110126/NEWS04/101260353/Tennessee-school-boards-push-fight-against-unions-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

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I'm not sure how I feel about this fight, anymore. W killed public schools as it is with NCLB.

[xchrom]

1. It never works out well for workers

When collective bargaining is taken away.

[fasttense]

2. How can this law be legal or constitutional?

A state can unilaterally declare Unions illegal?

I have a right to have a Union represent me if I want. No one stops corporations or governments from banning together against workers and tax payers. Why should workers and teachers be prevented from banning together?

This is obviously the result of the new RepubliCON majority in TN. Just watch teacher's salaries fall down to minimum wage, with no pensions or sick leave.

TN is rapidly turning into a neocon's wet dream. Soon all we will have is the dirt poor and the excessively wealthy. You too can clean the rich-man's toilet for pennies a day.

[Trey9007]

3. Teachers are only 1 part of the equation.....

But yet they are taking 100% of the blame for failing schools. Parents, as well as the student themselves, play just as big a role as teachers in our educational system. If parents are sending their kids to school, not prepared to learn, theres not much a teacher can do. If parents can't control their kids at home, what on earth makes anyone think a teacher will be able to control them in a classroom.

If teachers are going to take 100% of the responsibilty, they should be given 100% of the power. If a teacher sends a note home, that doesnt come back signed from the parent, the teacher should be able to send law enforcement to the home and/or maybe start the process to make child neglect charges. If a student is failing and the parents aren't coming to parent/teacher conferences, and are not showing any interest in their childs education. Again, teachers should have the right to initiate investigation of child neglect.

It's really a shame how teachers are expected to do the immpossible. Imagine being a carpenter on a construction site that is supposed to take wood and frame a house. You show up to work, and the people responsible for delivering the wood never show up, but you the carpenter take 100% of the blame, because the house has not been framed. IMO, this is the life of our teachers.

BTW, North Carolina bans public sector workers from organizing. Their schools, state budget, etc.. are no better than states with public sector unions. But I bet somehow unions are still blamed for the condition of North Carolina schools and government.

[moose65]

5. Unions get blamed all the time in NC!!

There is no union for teachers - there is only an "association." But I've seen comments on blogs that refer to it as the "teachers union." Teachers, community college instructors (whose pay is near the bottom), and other state workers have no voice AT ALL.

[molly77]

8. NC is a right to work state.

That should read right to fire state. Don't need a reason. With all the churches on every corner teaching North Carolinians to obey...big industry used to flock there. Now they have gone overseas. But there for a while NC was ideal. Nice weather and sheeple. Churches teach and preach how harmful unions are.

[molly77]

9. NC is a right to work state.

That should read right to fire state. Don't need a reason. With all the churches on every corner teaching North Carolinians to obey...big industry used to flock there. Now they have gone overseas. But there for a while NC was ideal. Nice weather and sheeple. Churches teach and preach how harmful unions are.

[chowhound]

13. the right to work- for less- state .nt.

[Roy Rolling]

4. The fallacy of logic

is that "the government" will save money by eliminating all that wasted negotiating time. But they neglect to mention they think government is a big waste of taxpayer money, so what will the government do with the saved money? According to "them", the government will waste that money, too. So how are Tennessee residents any better off with the government wasting money or the unions wasting money? There is the hidden agenda----only corporations can do a better job (according to neocons) so they will propose that corporations take over the school systems.

[Lint Head]

6. Tennessee has unions though it is a right to work state.

I'm in the AFM.

[fasttense]

7. And if they manage to destroy the Teacher's Union, who do you think they will

come after next? That's why all Unions need to support each other.

Raygun killed off the traffic controller's Union and then the remaining American unions slowly dwindled to practically nothing.

[d_r]

10. this is a big deal

the man is big on vilifying teachers and on vilifying unions so the teacher's union is a big ole target.

[Fearless]

11. The corporates want their workers back in line. No benefits. No nothing. n/t

[madfloridian]

12. Not sure how you feel about unions? Really?

These attacks against teachers and their unions are far worse under the Obama administration than they ever were under Bush.

I find that tragic. Unions built the middle class in this country. And you are not sure how you feel?

[NashVegas]

18. Not the Unions. The Fight

The media on this is bought and sold. Where I live in TN, the general populace is taught to despise and denigrate unions. Service workers and blue collar workers who don't have anyone out there fighting for *their* interests are taught to despise and denigrate unions.

People know their schools are shitty, but they blame it on teachers, they blame it on minorities and gangs, they have no idea how much money John D. Rockefeller contributed to a board to oversee and insure they got an education designed to keep them ignorant.

If I had kids, I'd be homeschooling. It's nothing against the teachers, it's about what they're being directed to do.

[Still a Democrat]

14. Make it easier to get rid of bad teachers, and retire at 65

I think most people think that's reasonable. They don't object to decent pay and benefits.

This bill seems to open the door to go beyond that.

[hayu_lol]

16. Tennessee wants Jebus in and unions out...

been this way for a very long time.

They are not the brightest bulbs in the neighborhood.

[nonoxy9]

15. Just part of the plan: destroy the unions, everyone suffers but the rich!

Even all the news reports last week about union membership dropping blamed the unions for being the greedy bad guys. With Obama and the dems backing these attacks on the teachers, we're all gonna get screwed.

[county worker]

17. So last night I hear Obama telling kids to become teachers to do something for their country.

He said in some country they are considered nation builders. In America you are supposed to go to school for a number of years, pay your own way, graduate and then be treated like pond scum!

Come on kids do something for your country!