Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 13, 2005 TRS - MARION LAWSUIT - WAL*MART

Rather than put out three editions of CAT Tracks today, the following unrelated stories from the IEA Web Site have been combined...

TRS Staff will Zip Lips until New Rules are Adopted

The trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) today agreed to seek input from teachers and other stakeholders before establishing new rules on retirement benefits. New rules are needed as a result of the pension legislation that took effect June 1.

TRS executive director Jon Bauman agreed his staff would not supply advice to local school districts until the TRS rule making process is complete. Bauman expressed hope the new rules could be ready by the end of September and said it would be inappropriate to give legal advice until the rules are finalized.

IEA vice president Bob Blade urged the board to reject rules that would negatively affect local school district bargaining. Phalen Addresses Investigation

At the beginning of the meeting, Molly Phalen, vice president of the TRS Board of Trustees and president of the Rockford Education Association, said TRS board members were feeling, "anger, shock, and disgust," over the actions alleged in federal indictments of two former TRS trustees, a former external counsel and a former employee of a private equity partnership in which the system has invested.

In her statement Phalen called the allegations "a discredit to the persons charged who had fiduciary duties to the system to act honestly and fairly in all matters involving the board."

"If any of what we have heard and read is substantiated in court, these individuals hijacked our good name and reputation and that is grounds for justifiable anger. It is a crime against the educators of Illinois; we, together, are the victims," she added.

Constitutional Trial Looms for Marion District

Injunction Denied Over Disruption Concerns, Teachers’ Case Remains Strong

Marion, IL - A federal judge’s denial of a request that he reverse the involuntary transfers of four tenured Marion teachers by the Marion Community Unit School District is the first step in a long legal battle to protect the teachers’ free speech rights.

In his August 10, 2005 ruling, Judge Phillip Gilbert stated the teachers, Becky Belt, Jennifer Lincoln, Marsha Land and Karen Jenkins, are the "cream of the crop" -- who exercised their constitutional right to speak out in opposition to Supt. Wade Hudgens attendance center proposal. The judge also chastised Supt. Hudgens for not giving any explanation to the three long term teachers - Plaintiffs Belt, Land, and Jenkins - whom the superintendent involuntarily transferred on May 31 without any forewarning.

Judge Gilbert stated, however, he could not grant an injunction blocking the transfers without a full trial, explaining that attempting to reverse the transfers and classroom assignments one week prior to the start of school could be disruptive.

The plaintiffs are members of the Marion Education Association (MEA) and the Illinois Education Association (IEA) which are supporting this lawsuit.

"Although we are disappointed the court was unable to stop these involuntary transfers, we are gratified our members are recognized as exemplary teachers with the right to oppose the administration’s policies, especially those that could hurt students," said MEA president Greg Reid.

Judge Gilbert’s ruling also commented on the vitally important job performed by public school teachers and observed that teachers, particularly tenured teachers, deserve to be treated fairly by school districts.

According to IEA president Ken Swanson, "When the facts of the case are presented in court, we expect a ruling that the real reason for the punitive actions taken against the teachers was their opposition to the superintendent’s proposals, which is a violation of the teachers’ Constitutional rights. All citizens, including teachers, have a right to freely engage in debate about district policies without fear of retaliation," Swanson said.

The next step in the case will be a conference to schedule discovery - the fact-gathering stage of a lawsuit. A trial could be scheduled in early 2006.

IEA: "Wal-Mart is Bad Business for Public Education"

The president of the state’s largest education employee’s organization today urged those considering purchasing school supplies from Wal-Mart to think twice about the damage Wal-Mart does to public education and local communities.

Illinois Education Association (IEA) president Ken Swanson joined other labor leaders, politicians and community activists at a "Wake Up Wal-Mart" event in Chicago on Wednesday and spoke of the damage the giant retailer has done to local governments and school taxing districts.

"All over Illinois, Wal-Mart lawyers and lobbyists have finagled sweetheart tax deals that allow this highly-profitable corporation to avoid paying its fair share of taxes," Swanson said.

"In addition, the Walton family, the founding family of Wal-Mart, has spent a quarter billion dollars supporting school voucher programs, tax credits and other schemes designed to divert public dollars away from public schools to private schools. Wal-Mart is bad business for public schools, and we hope everyone will think about that when they purchase school supplies," he added.

Among those joining Swanson at the event, held at a Jewel-Osco store on Chicago’s southwest side, were representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, as well as Congressman Danny Davis (D-Chicago).

Swanson said everyone who believes in a strong public education system and in reasonable pay and benefits for workers should consider whether their hard-earned dollars should be spent with a business that denies living wages and health care benefits to its workers and is dedicated to hurting public schools and students.

"Every teacher, school support staff employee, parent, student and taxpayer needs to understand that every dollar spent at Wal-Mart is a dollar devoted to hurting public education and supporting a company that mistreats its workers," Swanson said.