Student Well-Being

State-by-State Battle on Bargaining Rights Continuing to Unfold

By Sean Cavanagh — March 08, 2011 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial proposal to require teachers to pay more for benefits and curb their collective bargaining rights remained mired in a political deadlock last week, an Ohio plan with some of the same goals was rolling forward, despite objections from educators.

Ohio Republicans, who control both chambers of the state legislature, are backing a measure that would limit teachers’ ability to bargain on issues other than wages and a limited number of work conditions, and curtail their ability to negotiate on a host of other issues, including class size and pension contributions.

The proposal would do away with salary schedules for educators and require performance-based pay for teachers and other school employees. It also would require school boards to measure teachers’ performance based on a number of factors, including value-added measures of student achievement and peer review by educators’ colleagues.

The measure was approved by the Ohio Senate on a 17-16 vote, with six Republicans joining Democrats in voting against it, and was sent to the state’s House of Representatives.

See Also

Return to the main story: “Wis. Labor Bill Could Vex District-Union Relations,” March 9, 2011

“This is a major step forward in correcting the imbalance between taxpayers and the government unions that work for them,” Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and a supporter of the measure, said in a statement.

Challenging Unions

In Ohio, Idaho, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and other states, Republican officials have sought to curb collective bargaining rights or take other steps to challenge teachers’ and other public workers’ unions, arguing that will give more authority to local school boards and administrators to control education costs and boost student achievement. But those moves have angered labor groups, which say they are being unfairly targeted. Unions traditionally have been major donors to Democratic candidates.

The Ohio measure has sparked protests by teachers and other public workers across the state.

“It represents an anti-worker, anti-student, anti-education agenda,” Michele Prater, a spokeswoman for the Ohio State Education Association, a 130,000-member union, said in an interview.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Walker’s proposal to restrict collective bargaining sparked widespread protests and drew nationwide scrutiny. The governor and GOP lawmakers, who control the legislature, want to require teachers to pay more for benefits, and they want to remove many of educators’ collective bargaining powers. The plan would apply to other public employees, but would not include police or firefighters.

The newly elected Republican, whose state faces a projected $3.6 billion two-year deficit, wants to cut state funding to schools and put new restrictions on districts’ ability to recoup that money through property taxes. He says the proposed changes to workers’ benefits and bargaining rights are needed to offset those cuts, which would help balance the state’s budget.

While GOP lawmakers, who control Wisconsin’s legislature, approved the measure in the state’s Assembly with no Democratic support, it has been blocked in the Senate, where the 14 Democratic members left the state on Feb. 17 to prevent the chamber from having a quorum and remained away as of publication. Late last week, Republican lawmakers moved to hold the missing Democrats in contempt, in an effort to compel them to return.

Last week, Gov. Walker released a proposed budget that would cut school aid by 8 percent, or by $834 million over the coming biennium. In addition, he would reduce local revenue limits—which determine the amount school districts can recover through local taxes—by 5.5 percent next year, a step the governor says would hold down taxes for the state’s residents.

Mr. Walker says that proposed changes to pensions and health care would save districts at least $1 billion over the next two years, enough to make up for the cuts, and that changes in collective bargaining could bring more savings. Some school administrators are skeptical of that claim. (“Money, Policy Entangled in Wisconsin Labor Dispute,” March 02, 2011.)

The divisions caused by the governor’s proposed collective bargaining changes were evident at the state Capitol in Madison, where protesters, most opposed to the plan, once again massed last week.

The demonstrators included Caitlin Yunis, 30, a Madison middle school teacher, who said the governor’s plan to limit bargaining would lead to districts raising class sizes by too much, and making other changes that would hurt instruction.

“Collective bargaining is about the entire package,” Ms. Yunis said as she stood in the Capitol’s rotunda, “about the decisions that are made in our classroom.”

Outside the Statehouse, David Heim voiced support for the governor’s plan, carrying a sign that read, “Thank You Walker for Being Strong.” The 50-year-old Cambridge, Wis., resident argued that elected officials need to reduce taxpayer costs.

“We finally have someone who has the courage to do this,” he said.

A version of this article appeared in the March 09, 2011 edition of Education Week as State-by-State Battle on Bargaining Rights Continuing to Unfold

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum New Insights Into the Teaching Profession
Join this free virtual event to get exclusive insights from Education Week's State of Teaching project.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being The Number of Students Getting Free School Meals Is in Flux. Why?
New York has become the latest state to make school meals free to all students regardless of income.
5 min read
Cafeteria worker Nuria Alvarenga serves lunch to students through a service window at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif. on April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income.
Cafeteria worker Nuria Alvarenga serves lunch to students through a service window at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif. on April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students.
Richard Vogel/AP
Student Well-Being Student Well-Being Report Shows How Kids Are Doing in Education and Beyond
Student well-being has seen some progress, but education continues to decline.
5 min read
Students work together on an assignment about ecosystems and environmental impacts during a 7th grade science class.
Students work together on an assignment about ecosystems and environmental impacts during a 7th grade science class. Education continues to decline in the latest report on children's well-being.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Student Well-Being What School Leaders Learned When They Talked to Families About Absenteeism
A district enlisted its community to find out why students were missing school and responded accordingly.
5 min read
Image of a school bus driving on the road in the rain.
Willowpix/iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being Opinion Social Media Is Awash With Bad Health Advice. This Lesson Can Help
Why a librarian and health educator teamed up to teach students the red flags of misleading claims.
Nicole Murphy & Cynthia Sandler
4 min read
This image portrays a young woman deeply engaged with her smartphone, seen through a distorted, swirling blur effect. The artistic composition highlights the concept of doomscrolling, brainrot, digital addiction, social media immersion, and the modern reliance on technology. The surreal perspective creates a sense of detachment, illustrating how screens can shape and blur reality.
E+/Getty