Heck, No, They Won't Go

Only a few hours after an email was sent to local teacher unions on March 18, speculation about work stoppages, including at , started to fly.

But Board of Education President Howard Wallach said during the board's March 22 meeting that he fully expects Farmington teachers will not participate in any type of job action, which was suggested by Michigan Education Association president Iris Salters.

In her memo to local MEA members, she said that Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed budget will slash $470 per pupil from every school district, “and upwards of $1,000 per pupil in some districts, when you take into account other K-12 funding cuts.”

She criticized the new emergency financial manager law, she said “will destroy the collective bargaining rights of our members and the local control of democratically elected bodies in school districts, cities and other local government entities that are in ‘financial crisis.’”

And she took issue with bills currently being considered in committees, which would require school employees to pay at least 20 percent of their health insurance premiums and “slash (salaries) by 5 percent.”

The fix? According to Salters, it could be a “job action.” She wrote: “The MEA board has directed our state and local associations to ratchet up our actions around this crisis. Your local president has been asked to call a general membership meeting before April 15, at which you’ll be asked to take a vote giving authority to MEA to initiate crisis activities up to and including job action.”

Wallach said that’s essentially a “teacher strike,” which is an illegal action.

While Salters has the right to take issue with the governor’s budget, Wallach said, “In this case, she is asking that Farmington Public Schools teachers engage in an illegal act … to send a message to Lansing.

“We do not expect our teachers to behave in this manner.”

He said that the professionalism and dedication of Farmington teachers will lead them to use the democratic process, and work with the district to find solutions to the budget problems that are being imposed by Lansing on the schools.

“Let’s all agree that we don’t sacrifice the education of our children to make a point,” he said. “Together, let’s call for our elected officials to reconsider their funding priorities.”