Posted under Education Politics & Independence Institute & PPC & School Accountability & School Board & State Legislature & Teachers
A couple weeks ago I brought your attention to the fact that it was THE week for Senate Bill 191, the monumental effort to reform Colorado’s teacher evaluation and tenure system. Well, now that THE week is over and the bill passed the senate, this week really is THE week — as it goes up for a critical House Education Committee vote on Thursday.
In the meantime, the heated debate over SB 191 has brought attention back to a locally-negotiated special perk for many teachers unions — tax-funded release time from the classroom for teachers to lobby against the bill. I have asked the question before: Where is the accountability for school employee union leave activities?
In an op-ed published three (count ‘em, three) places since Friday, my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow says the latest experience with release time to rally against SB 191 makes the issue as relevant and as significant as ever. Take your pick:
Local school board members and state legislators alike ought to take a very close look at policies that allow tax dollars to release teachers from the classroom to perform union business. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: The least we could get is more accountability.
Colorado has a chance to be a cutting-edge leader in this area. First, we’d have to catch up to Utah — which this year almost passed a bill to prevent any sort of tax-funded union leave. But it’s going on in other places, too, such as Ohio — as very recently documented in a new report (PDF, pgs. 13-14) by the Education Action Group Foundation and the Foundation for Educational Choice.
Even if it’s not a lot of money in itself, it’s the principle of the thing. Besides, addressing the tax money given to union privileges seems like a major no-brainer, especially during the current budget difficulties faced by so many school districts. It’s about time for school employee union release time to attract some serious attention.
Ed is Watching » Thank You, Education Action Group, for Spreading the Word on Union Release Time on 01 Jun 2010 at 12:04 pm #
[...] But what about teachers who escape from the classroom during the school year on tax-funded union release time? I’m not talking personal leave days or vacation time, but the special privilege underwritten by taxpayers that allows unions to release teachers for various days to do union business — including most recently so teachers could lobby at the State Capitol. [...]
Ed is Watching » Video: Lamb Basted? NJ Gov. Chris Christie Takes on Teacher Unions Again on 13 Sep 2010 at 12:47 pm #
[...] may be an especially extreme case, but Colorado has plenty of its own examples of teachers union obstruction and abuses. When union leadership is to blame, they need to be called on it — plain and [...]
Ed is Watching » Colorado and Michigan Taxpayers Both Still Underwriting Teachers Union Release Time on 13 Apr 2011 at 10:59 am #
[...] year ago this time Colorado teachers unions were taking numerous taxpayer-funded leave days to lobby against Senate Bill 191 at the State Capitol. My Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow has written about the topic many [...]
Ed is Watching » How Did I Miss Utah’s Union Release Time Accountability Law (They Beat Colorado)? on 07 Jun 2011 at 11:50 am #
[...] in his 2010 issue paper Colorado Schools and Association Release Time (PDF). (You know, like unions taking taxpayer-funded leave from the classroom to lobby against the landmark 2010 educator effectiv….) Maybe some intrepid policy maker in our own Centennial State can help this movement for common [...]