On the agenda for the Michigan House Oversight Committee today was a discussion of Taylor Public Schools recent contract extension of. . . 10 years. There wasn’t much discussion, however, as nobody from Taylor Public Schools bothered to show up.
One only need examine Michigan’s recent passage of Right to Work legislation to discover why 10-year contracts by public school unions are suddenly all the rage. As the law is written, any collective-bargaining agreement signed before the Act goes into effect at the end of March are exempted until the agreement renewal date. School unions bickering over the normal three-year contracts are amazingly motivated to sign onto anything just short of eternity to avoid allowing their “members” the right to choose to pay dues.
Committee Chair Rep. Tom McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, said that – despite the Taylor Schools blowing off the committee hearing - the issue wasn’t going to go away and that it would be revisited. On the plus side, maybe school districts like Taylor get a better deal for their taxpayers by signing a long contract. Maybe it’s worth the trouble. If so, they should be more than happy to share that good news with the public.
Did I just hear a muffled snicker?
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