Now that Act10 has been enacted making it next to impossible for teachers to bargain teachers are going to be left vulnerable. The next fight (that will probably not get as much press) will be the one over district handbooks – especially the term JUST CAUSE.
Here are some examples to keep in mind while reading about these negotiations going on in your district.
` `While the reasons that teacher’s need unions are plentiful(and I am not just talking about how despicable New Berlin treats its teachers), here are some prime examples.
H/T Jonathon Turley for documenting so many of these cases!
1. A Georgia teacher lost her job for a Facebook picture of her having a drink in Europe.
A Georgia teacher, Ashley Payne, has lost her lawsuit seeking damages after she said she was forced out due to a Facebook picture taken of her drinking in Europe. A teacher or parent had filed an anonymous complaint against Payne for photos showing her holding drinks in Europe — not normally a shocking image.
2. A teacher near Philadelphia was suspended for blogging.
On the blog, Munroe complained that her students were “rude, lazy, disengaged whiners” and admitted that she dreamed of giving parents an honest appraisal of their children. Some of the alternative “canned comments” were pretty funny and were clearly not meant for the students to read. They included “rat-like,” “dresses like a streetwalker,” “frightfully dim,” and “whiny, simpering grade-grubber with an unrealistically high perception of own ability level.”
Superintendent N. Robert Laws said last week that the blogged complaints were “very egregious” and “certainly could result in termination.” I certainly agree that this matter raised very egregious conduct, but of the school not the teacher. Teachers have free speech and have a right to vent about their profession.
Instead, Munroe was escorted from the school and suspended on the day the blog was revealed to school officials.
3. In Connecticut, a 2nd grade teacher was fired for wearing a bikini on television.
Marie Jarry, the former second-grade teacher who resigned after making an appearance in a bikini on the “Howard Stern Show,” is suing Southington, Connecticut school officials as well as her union. She has good reason to complain about being fired for an appearance in a swimsuit on a television program on her own time. The increasing enforcement of after-hours codes of conduct by employers should be viewed as a cause of alarm for a society that prides itself on freedom of association and speech.
4. A Beaver Dam teacher was put on leave for having a picture of herself pointing a gun at the camera.
There is another case of a teacher being punished for legal activities outside of the school setting. The latest case comes from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin where teacher Betsy Ramsdale has been put on leave after someone found a picture of her holding a gun on her Facebook site.
Beaver schools superintendent Donald Childs explains that a school employee found Ramsdale’s picture pointing a rifle at a camera and reported it
That we have teachers throughout the country being “reported” for activities that they do in their free time is beyond disturbing. That they are actually getting “punished” for it just adds to this disturbing trend. We see that all it takes is one looney parent, mixed with a weak administration and it can be hell on a teacher who does not have a strong union to back them up.
By the way which of the above firings/suspensions save the state money?
PS: Let’s not forget the most egregious example, that Steven wrote about recently:
Republicans in Michigan are pushing legislation that would have serious consequences for union workers such as teachers. The GOP led House of Representatives in the state have introduced a bill that would imprison union members for sending political emails using publicly owned email services.
The consequences for violating the law include a $10,000 fine for an organization, and a $1,000 fine and one-year imprisonment for an individual.
Hmmm imprisoned for holding differing beliefs than the people in power, where have I heard of that before?
Teacher #3 did that on a sick day, not her own time. That was the bigger problem.
Since we keep wanting to compare schools to business. I hope this year on opening day that we screen everyone as they walk into Miller park to make sure no one called in sick that day!
For as those of us in Madison all know, teachers NEVER call in sick or submit a doctor’s excuse unless they are really, really, sick! Hey, you got a chance to crawl in the gutter with Howard Stern you gotta go for it!
Now, can we talk about the teachers union that forced the Middleton-Cross Plains district to spend $343,000 in legal fees, plus $25,000 in fees to an arbitrator who ruled that the district had to rehire a teacher who viewed porn on school computers and pay him back $195,000 in back pay.
http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/local_schools/middleton-cross-plains-school-board-to-appeal-ruling-on-teacher/article_e00c8f79-e3a2-55fa-8c40-561278909f86.html
Case has been appealed to the courts (more legal fees); not certain of outcome. Yeah, teachers like that sure need a union. You want more of these, Jeff? Because there are scads of cases like this. Just let me know!
Yes thanks for bringing this case up. If they wanted to fire him, they just needed to do it legally. They messed up the firing so he was able to get his job back and he should have been. Its not that hard, just cross your t’s and dot your i’s and do things correctly and you can fire the people who commit fireable offenses.
They union didnt “force” Middleton – Cross plains district to pursue the court case, they chose that. just like the union did not “force” him to be paid backpay, the judge did!
Is everyone in this state but you in the pockets of unions? Maybe they see the state pension your getting and realize its a pretty good gig!
No, they couldn’t fire him illegally, but they could fire him legally. That’s the kind of mumbo jumbo that the unions specialize in. Because it takes a law firm to legally fire a unionized teacher downloading porn in the school house. BTW: NO judge ordered reinstatement, it was an arbitrator and arbitrators almost always rule for the unionized teacher, as former NBC and CNN journalist Campbell Brown relates here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443437504577547313612049308.html
Thankfully, Gov. Walker’s reforms will put an end to this and there ain’t no going back, my Leftist friend.
It should be possible but NOT easy to fire a teacher and that is the way it was. Thank goodness he had recourse., Other wise you end up victims like the teachers in the actual post.
Heck you can tell how much republicans care about stuff like this by the way they treat Scott Walker for hiring Tim russell and Dennis smith!
Hypocrite much?
$400,000 in legal fees etc. is hardly “easy.” Tim Russell? It was Scott Walker who blew the whistle on him. Dennis Smith? Not aware he broke the law. You got information otherwise or is this just a little casual slander?
now its $400,000 id say closer to $500,000. Its funny what that much money and two criminal defense firms will buy you in America. We all know it wasnt walker who blew the whistle on russell but its a nice try.
As for Dennis Smith, why yes I do have something. Its called court documents – http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2013/02/dennis-smith.html