News-Leader (Springfield) June 7, 2009
Lawmakers' lack of action leaves schools adrift about teacher representation.
Chad Livengood
News-Leader
The Missouri legislature's failure to address public school teacher collective bargaining issues raised in a 2007 state Supreme Court ruling has left districts vulnerable to lawsuits, critics say.
Springfield Public Schools found out firsthand on Tuesday when its largest teacher representation group, the Springfield National Education Association, filed suit in a long-standing disagreement over exclusive representation.
"Any time the legislature fails to act, it forces the school board to become a legislative body and that's really not its job," said Norm Ridder, Springfield superintendent. "As long as the legislature is split, it's really hard to predict when this is going to be resolved."
It's also unclear whether the issue of exclusive representation will be settled in court or on the legislative floor. In 2007, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution guarantees public employees the right to union representation. The state constitution says "employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing."
But the court left open the question of how districts should set policies on teachers selecting their labor representative at the bargaining table. Lawmakers have been asked to give districts guidance, but little progress has been made during the past two legislative sessions.
In the Springfield lawsuit, the SNEA wants a judge to order the Springfield school board to hold an election of all teachers to decide whether they want to be represented by SNEA, the Missouri State Teachers Association or no union.
The lawsuit stems from a new Springfield school board policy that would first require a vote of teachers to see if they want just one labor organization to represent them. After that, teachers would be asked to choose between the two rivaling organizations --SNEA and MSTA.
SNEA, which currently has more members than MSTA, doesn't want to go through the process of the first vote. The labor union says the constitution gives teachers the right to have an up or down vote on whether SNEA or MSTA should have exclusive representation.
Legislative standstill
In the past two years, there have been two competing collective bargaining bills filled on behalf of MSTA and NEA.
Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, sponsored MSTA-backed legislation this year that would allow teachers in a district dominated by one employee organization to join another one or the right to refrain from joining any dues-collecting group at all.
Also included in the text of the bill: "Nothing shall preclude a school district from working with more than one employee organization."
His bill got tacked on to an omnibus education bill that initially got voted down in the House because of a number of high-priced programs.
His provision was later removed from the bill so it could pass the Senate, where Democratic senators with NEA ties could have filibustered the legislation.
Wilson said the NEA seeks to monopolize the teacher representation business in Missouri -- as it does in many other states -- and has been unwilling to compromise.
"They want a winner-take-all election," Wilson said. "If there are not exclusive representation votes, they're not interested in discussing it much further."
Likewise, a Senate bill backed by NEA never made it out of a Senate committee.
It would have removed the exclusion of teachers, police and National Guard members from current labor law -- allowing them to organize, like other public and private employees, with a secret ballot election for exclusive representation.
"The constitution is on the side of the NEA," said state Rep. Sara Lampe, D-Springfield.
Lampe has been on the NEA's side, arguing that allowing teachers to vote on exclusive representation is democratic in nature.
"An election is majority rule," Lampe said. "That is a democratic principle."
No political will
Springfield's size alone makes its collective bargaining dispute unique, said Susan Goldammer, senior director of employment and labor relations for the Missouri School Boards' Association.
It is the second largest district in Missouri -- next to St. Louis -- and the largest accredited district.
But the predicament of having two strong teachers associations is commonplace in Missouri, Goldammer said.
"Teachers always ask why they are treated differently from other employees groups," she said, "but none of the other employee groups have been historically involved with two strong organizations."
MSTA was once affiliated with the NEA, until it splintered off in 1973.
Missouri NEA formed -- a group still interested in maintaining ties with the national organization. MSTA has since focused more on the local level.
"Hence the current conundrum," Goldammer said, "we don't feel comfortable excluding one or the other. I have some districts that are more one group than the other, and others -- like Springfield -- that have both."
In the void of legislative direction, Goldammer and MSBA's legal staff crafted two different collective bargaining policies to help guide districts in determining the best policy for their teachers.
Though multiple representative bargaining is basically unheard of in other states, Missouri's unique situation with the teacher groups calls for the option, she said.
The policy recently approved by the Springfield school board, provoking the SNEA lawsuit, mirrors the one created by MSBA.
Goldammer said she holds little hope for legislative guidance.
"We have an interesting collision of political power -- a Democratic governor, who has a lot of union support, and a Republican legislature that doesn't favor collective bargaining," she said.
"Why waste your political capital trying to pass something that won't be signed?"
Superintendent Ridder said legislators didn't feel any urgency to act on the issue.
"I don't think there was any real desire to take action. There was no energy put towards it," Ridder said.
Both Goldammer and Ridder said there likely will be more lawsuits in the years to come without definitive collective bargaining legislation.
"I don't know they understand how much chaos there is without any guidelines on this," Goldammer said. "Limitations create sanity."
