Last we heard from the Center for Union Facts, they were tacking up signs in the Farragut North station decrying the teachers’ union for ruining children’s educations. You could tell their educations, and lives, were ruined because the kids were doing things like holding their hands over their eyes. That’s how you know a kid means business.
Now, it looks like the organization run by an antiunion lobbyist is gearing up for another throw-down with the Washington Teachers’ Union, following an independent arbitrator’s ruling that the 75 probationary teachers Michelle Rhee dismissed in 2008 were improperly terminated. The verdict faulted D.C. Public Schools for not informing teachers why they were fired, and DCPS was given 60 days to find the teachers and offer them reinstatement and about $7.5 million in total back pay.
Some agree with the verdict; some don’t. Some think it’s justice; some think it’s a pity that will hurt kids. Six words into this email from the Center for Union Facts, their side is pretty clear:
The reason? Bureaucratic red tape. The arbitrator ruled that the letters the teachers received notifying them of their termination were insufficiently explanatory. As a result, ineffective teachers have to be rehired and provided back pay at a cost of up to $7.5 million – this at a time when the city is facing a $545 million deficit for fiscal year 2012.
Last time the group went on the offensive, DCPS said they didn’t want their support. In a letter to founder Richard Berman, D.C. Public Schools General Counsel James Sandman condemned the spots and demanded that Berman cease to mention Rhee’s name in donor solicitations.
Now that there’s a $7.5 million pricetag attached, we wonder what DCPS’s reaction to any of the center’s anti-union ad attacks will be.
