WEAC Testifies Against Bill to Eliminate Just Cause Stantard

A bill to eliminate the just cause standard for the non-renewal of teachers’ individual employment contracts would adversely affect public school teachers throughout the state, a WEAC negotiations specialist told the Assembly Committee on Education Reform Tuesday (January 8, 2008).

“The just cause standard is critical for experienced teachers,” said Greg Spring, urging the panel to vote against the bill. “Teachers are the men and women who make the difference in our classrooms, and teachers are sometimes targeted for reasons unrelated to their ability to do their jobs.”

WEAC negotiations specialist Greg Spring testifies in front of the Assembly Committee on Education Reform on January 8, 2008.

Just cause requires that school boards articulate a valid reason based on evidence of performance and that a fair and objective investigation is conducted before a teacher’s career is tarnished or ruined. Without just cause, a reduced standard of protection could be used to mask discrimination, including bias against a teacher’s political affiliation or personal beliefs and ideology, Spring said.

The standards for non-renewing a teaching contract are currently negotiated on the local level, as they should be, Spring said. Under almost all of WEAC’s collective bargaining agreements, teachers serve a probationary period. During that probationary period, which is typically three years, school boards may non-renew a teacher for any reason except an arbitrary or illegal reason. The non-renewal is generally not subject to challenge by the union’s grievance process. It is only after the teacher successfully completes his or her probationary period that the just cause standard applies.

"Assembly Bill 670 articulates bad public policy by removing local control and making the just cause standard a prohibited subject of bargaining,” Spring said.

Currently, Wisconsin Statute 111.70 provides that public sector employers and labor organizations have an obligation to bargain over mandatory subjects of bargaining. The just cause standard for discipline has long been recognized as a mandatory subject. Disputes regarding just cause are resolved through a mutually negotiated grievance procedure. Wisconsin courts have a long tradition of encouraging the use of arbitration as a means of resolving labor disputes.

However, Assembly Bill 670 establishes a new statutory framework for renewals. By doing so, it removes disputes regarding non-renewals from the arbitration process and places them in the courts.

Assembly Bill 670 is just another attempt to subject teachers to a harsher standard than other public employees without reason, Spring said. Police, firefighters, prison guards and waste management workers would all continue to have a just cause standard by contract.

“Wisconsin has one of the most qualified teaching corps in the nation. The average teacher has a master’s degree, 15 years of experience and teaches in a subject area in which he or she is certified,” Spring said. “Wisconsin teachers do not deserve such punitive treatment.”

“Great schools benefit everyone,” he continued. “The students in Wisconsin’s public schools get the best education when the men and women who work in their classrooms use their professional judgment and talents free from unnecessary fear. WEAC members support school districts’ personnel decisions when the decisions are based on the interest of the students but not when they are based on politics, personalities or rumors.”

The committee took no action on the bill following the hearing. If the bill is supported by the committee and passes the Assembly, the Democrat-controlled Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Update: On February 5, 2008, the Assembly Education Reform Committee voted, 4-2, to recommend passage of AB 670.

Posted January 10, 2008