(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/20/23) Seniority would play a role in deciding which classes K-12 instructors can teach, while discipline would become a subject of collective bargaining under legislation that passed the House Tuesday afternoon on a strictly party-line vote.
Over the objection of school administrators and to the delight of the teacher unions, seven bills that overturn Snyder-era restrictions on which teachers are the first to be laid off during tight budget times and what can be negotiated at the bargaining table advanced to the Senate, 56-53.
Several bills making “necessary changes” to the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) were queued up to move last Wednesday, but were held back a week. The final puzzle piece added today – HB 4820 by Rep. Phil Skaggs (D-Grand Rapids) attempts to make performance and seniority, as opposed to only seniority, the deciding factors in determining which teachers are first in line to get laid off.
Democrats all lined up behind the bill as it shot out of committee and pushed through the floor, but the school administrator groups still didn't like it, saying it added confusion to the system by potentially overturning established court precedent.
“Unfortunately, House Democrats have dismissed all attempts to work collaboratively on the final version of this proposal and instead voted through a package of legislation that will weaken school administrators' ability to fairly and effective manage daily operations,” said Robert McCann of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan.
A legal opinion for school administrators and school boards reads that the Skaggs bill would “set Michigan back nearly half a century.”
Skaggs said his bill would eliminate “ill-conceived and misapplied state mandates” and allow a return to local control, where districts could decide their own system for placing teachers,
Currently, the law prohibits a teachers' “length of service or tenure status” from being "the primary or determining factor” in their placement.
Under Skaggs' bill, “seniority” could not be the “sole factor.”
But it could now be considered a determining factor (or tiebreaker) for teacher placement, though Skaggs said a district must adopt a procedure that includes other relevant factors, including teacher effectiveness measured through performance evaluations or length of service in a grade level or subject area.
“Working people suffered enormous damage under the Snyder and Engler administrations, but I am proud to say our state is well on the way to recovery,” said David Hecker, President of AFT Michigan. “After repealing the so-called ‘right-to-work’ and restoring the prevailing wage earlier this year, the legislature is now stepping up to right the wrongs done to public workers over the past three decades.
"The passage of PERA+ means that educators and support staff will once again be able to bargain with administrators about issues that directly affect our workplace. As a longtime union member and leader, I know firsthand that when working people stand together and fight for what’s right, we win.”
Disregarding a request from Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) that the bill change “subject area” to “content area” (to allow more flexibility for teachers) Democrats on the Education Committee stuck with the bill and voted it out, 9-5.
In a special joint committee, Sen. John DaMoose (R-Harbor Springs) and Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Odessa) expressed concern that the bill moves away from performance-based placements and would allow seniority to play a bigger role, while Rep. Jaime Greene (R-Richmond) said the bill “hamstrings” superintendents and administrators and prevents them from making the best decisions for students.
House Education Chair Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said the system will still take teacher effectiveness into account, and Rep. Jaime Churches (D-Wyandotte) added that expanding the criteria could result in more teachers being placed where they’re most passionate.
Wegela added that people get caught up in the idea that “seniority is bad, but experience is good.”
He pointed out that most Michiganders in need of a car repair would choose an experienced mechanic over someone with only a few years of practical knowledge. A sick individual would want a surgeon who’s been practicing for decades over someone brand new.
Skaggs said the changes will not be easy, but providing a system based on multiple criteria could help retain new teachers more than the current system, which doesn’t give much of a say to any teachers.
Jen Smith of the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) said the bill appears to address concerns about seniority being the sole bargaining criterion, but it does not solve that problem. Instead, it creates new ones, regarding layoffs specifically.
Smith said the bill elevates concerns the MASB had with the other PERA bills by changing the definition of seniority and the criteria considered, moving away from the existing standards for teacher performance and towards a system based on teacher performance evaluations.
That change could result in districts basing their layoffs on state testing data, she said, instead of the existing standards for teacher performance.
She added that the bill also changes the definition of teacher to specify those in the classroom, which could make teachers serving in other areas outside the classroom neither protected nor included under the criteria.
She was joined in opposition by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, the Macomb Intermediate School District, the K-12 Alliance, the Michigan Alliance of Student Opportunity, Oakland Schools, the Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency, the Northern Michigan Schools Legislative Association, the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, the Calhoun Intermediate School District, the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Great Lakes Education Project- Education Fund.
The bill was supported by Tammy Daenzer, a union advocate within the Michigan Education Association who testified in favor.
