PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Simon Campbell
The Strike-Free Education Pact was recently unveiled in Harrisburg by State Representatives Todd Rock (R-Franklin) and Bob Bastian (R-Somerset) to outlaw teacher strikes in Pennsylvania in statute, and by a complementary Constitutional amendment. Governor Rendell's spokesperson was quick to declare this initiative to be "radical". The good news is that Mr. Rendell has inspired me to tour the United States. My interest is in visiting the thirty-seven (37) radical states that have already banned teacher strikes. If I am lucky, I hope to meet with thirty-seven radical Governors to see how wild they really are.
Last year Governor Rendell declared that Pennsylvania had an "appropriate balance" with its own teacher strike law. He wrote these words in a questionnaire the state teachers' union (PSEA) sent him during his reelection campaign – not long before their political action committee sent him $500,000 in campaign contributions. With Pennsylvania having more teacher strikes than all other states in the nation combined, one can only guess what Mr. Rendell was talking about. Perhaps as he held the union's questionnaire in his left hand, and their check for half a million dollars in his right hand, he felt an "appropriate balance" was occurring.
Of course that was last year, and a year is a long time in politics. This year the Governor is talking about preferring the concept of last-best-offer binding arbitration as advocated by State Senator, Bob Mellow. Never mind that Mellow's proposal has been declared unconstitutional at three public hearings in Harrisburg. Under Mellow's vision, a County Judge would be empowered to settle a teacher contract dispute by picking either the union or school board's proposal in its entirety – and the Judge's decision would be final and binding. Mellow's proposal doesn't include any defined penalties for illegal strikes (which occur in certain other states), and any teacher that struck illegally would have to be prosecuted individually in court to prove their guilt. By contrast, the supposedly "radical" idea from State Rep. Todd Rock uses the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to ascertain collective guilt of an illegal strike, and it keeps fiscal authority over the teachers' contract with taxpayers' duly elected school officials.
Here is how the Bob Mellow binding arbitration proposal could work in the real world. The County clerk could announce to the Judge the day's schedule, thus: "Your honor, at 9:00am you have the drunken driving case, followed at 10:00am by the $100 million teacher contract property tax dispute. The school district has charged the teachers with striking illegally so after deciding what their salaries should be, you will need to hold 586 hearings to determine whether they all need to go to jail."
To refine this idea further, I did suggest to Bob Mellow that instead of allowing a County Judge to control school property taxes, he simply appoint the Queen of England to do it. This would represent a much fairer system of taxation, because at least the union wouldn't elect the Queen like they would the Judge. Unfortunately Mr. Mellow never responded to my idea. I think I am in his bad books for publicly disclosing that teacher union bosses bankroll his election campaigns. Perhaps that's also why the Senator uses the phrase "school strikes" instead of "teacher strikes". As if somehow the buildings themselves are on the picket line.
The reality of this Rendell endorsed binding arbitration proposal, is that allowing a County Judge to grant the teachers' union 100% of its contract demands - in violation of the Constitution - represents the most radical solution to impose on taxpayers. But with $500,000 in hand, it is easy to understand how the word radical could be defined differently by the Governor.
To get past the political smoke and mirrors, StopTeacherStrikes, Inc. recently listed on our website (www.stopteacherstrikes.org) every single state legislator who takes campaign money off the teacher unions' political action committees. From January 2004 to December 2006, a staggering 80% of all State Senators and 73% of all House Representatives took the money.
The truth is that we need some checks and balances to protect Pennsylvania's children and taxpayers and pass the sensible Strike-Free Education Pact into law. A little more balance and a lot less checks.
Simon Campbell is president of StopTeacherStrikes, Inc. (www.stopteacherstrikes.org) – a grassroots nonprofit organization committed to ending teacher strikes in Pennsylvania.
