A state lawmaker has re-ignited a debate over banning teacher strikes in Pennsylvania with a new bill to prevent teachers from taking to the picket line.
Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, unveiled the Strike-Free Education Act on Tuesday at a Capitol news conference. It's the latest of several bills introduced to ban strikes in the past few years, and none of its predecessors have moved through the Legislature.
Rock's bill is backed mostly by conservative Republicans and a vocal statewide group called Stop Teacher Strikes Inc. Rep. Bev Mackereth, R-Spring Grove, is among 24 co-sponsors.
Rock's bill is opposed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.
Rock introduced his bill after teachers in 14 districts statewide, including the Littlestown Area School District, held strikes during the 2006-07 school year.
Littlestown teachers walked out for two weeks in October, and negotiations there continue in a labor dispute that centers on health care.
Last June, teachers and other professionals in the Lincoln Intermediate Unit held a one-day strike, and later came to terms on a contract. The unit serves special needs children in York, Adams and Franklin counties. Hanover teachers also voted to strike last year, but a walkout was averted when a contract settlement was reached at the last minute.
Mackereth said she signed onto Rock's bill because "education is way too important."
An ex-teacher and former member of the Waynesboro Area School Board, Rock argued that his bill is needed because Pennsylvania is a leading state for teacher strikes. At least 37 other states ban them.
"Why should Pennsylvania children be denied the same legal right to a strike-free education as children in 37 other states," Rock said.
He also argued that the concept of a strike ban is supported by the state Constitution, which requires the Legislature to "provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth."
PSEA spokesman Wythe Keever said the bill is unnecessary because teachers don't take strikes lightly, and they would have no real leverage in contract talks without the right to strike.
"The overwhelming majority of collective bargaining agreements in Pennsylvania are successfully reached without strikes," Keever said.
Rock's bill would require school boards and teachers unions to begin negotiating Sept. 30 of the year before the contract expires, and submit to non-binding arbitration if they can't agree on a new contract. Both contract proposals would have to be made public when arbitration begins.
The arbitrator's recommendation would also be made public, and town hall meetings on the contract would be held every six weeks if an impasse ensues by June 30 of the year the contract expires.
Rock's arbitration language marks a key difference between his bill and another already pending from Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna. Mellow has been pushing a bill to ban teacher strikes and force school boards and unions into binding arbitration to settle stalemates.
Rock argued that his plan is better than binding arbitration because he does not want someone from outside the district deciding the matter, and public pressure should force the two sides to agree.
Rock's plan also calls for fines on teachers who strike if his bill is enacted. They would lose two days of pay for every day of an illegal strike.Labels: academy awards, career training.news, education online, high school, scholarship, student loans |
