Tuesday - March 02, 2010

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URGENT-Stop Your Tax Dollars from Paying Teachers Union Salaries!

Believe it or not, there is nothing preventing full-time Teachers Union presidents from getting a large portion of their salary paid by the very school district whom they negotiate their collective bargaining agreements with. Let us put this in clear terms - A full-time union employee, who has been granted full-time leave from the school district to work for the union, is receiving half of their salary and benefits from the school district!

SB77 addresses fiscal responsibility. We cannot afford to divert money away from the classroom, especially in lean budget years. Districts must be held accountable to taxpayers to spend their budgets directly on the education of our children. Union salaries are not an appropriate expenditure. Help us put a stop to this unethical practice!

The Senate will be voting on SB77 in the next day or two.  Your calls and emails do make a difference. Your actions can help get this bill passed!

Contact your Senator (find HERE ) first and ask them to support Senate Bill 77. Then contact all members of the Senate and ask them to vote YES (find HERE).

What did the Salt Lake Tribune say about this practice? (UEA Pay Deal , March 1, 2009). "It has evolved to mean, in practice, that some districts continue to fork out hefty amounts to pay people who are no longer working strictly for the district. In fact, in union parlance, these UEA officials are being paid by the employer, the opponent in contract negotiations. It's like having one foot on the ground and the other on a moving train."

Tell your Senators to put a stop to it!

Recent News about SB77
Utah Legislature: Union rep salaries targeted by bill | Deseret News
Bill to prohibit paid union leave clears committee| Salt Lake Tribune
It's Not the Responsibility of Taxpayers to Provide the Teachers' Union with a Voice | Utah Policy


Below you will find a summary of the bill outlining the conflicts and questionable ethics of this practice.

 

ACTION ITEM           CONTACT MEMBERS OF THE SENATE TODAY Ask them to vote YES on SB 77 (School District Leave Policies) This bill has already passed the Senate Committee and is awaiting the final vote on the Senate Floor. Call and email your Senator. Call  and email all Senators. Please forward this email to friends and family.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  GO HERE to find out who your Senator is, their contact info, and tips on communicating with them.  GO HERE to find the contact information for all Senators.  Senate: (801) 538-1035 You can call the Senate Chamber number and leave a message that will be taken directly to the legislator. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remember, when contacting elected officials, it's appropriate to be firm, but always  be respectful.

 

Senate Bill 77 School District Leave Policies

Sponsor: Margaret Dayton

Prohibits a local school board from granting paid association leave for certain employee association or union duties; requires reimbursement to a school district of the costs for certain employees, including benefits, for the time that exceeds 10 business days that the employee is on unpaid association leave or participating in certain paid association leave activities. ("Employee association" means an association that negotiates employee salaries, benefits, contracts, or other conditions of employment or performs union duties)

• On November 1, 2009, The Office of Legislative Auditor General of the State of Utah released a report on Association Leave in Utah's School Districts. The most revealing and obvious finding in the OLAG report, "The association president represents the interests of teachers which, at times, conflict with the interests of the district." The report also found, "Districts are not fulfilling their statutory responsibilities to ensure that association leave has a direct benefit to the school district." http://www.le.state.ut.us/audit/09_bilr.pdf
• This bill addresses fiscal responsibility. We cannot afford to divert money away from the classroom, especially in lean budget years.
• Districts must be held accountable to taxpayers to spend their budgets directly on the education of children. Union salaries are not an appropriate expenditure.
• In opposition of the 2009 bill, HB381, UEA President, Kim Campbell stated, "This bill would take away the voice of teacher associations." (Deseret News Feb. 24, 2009). Unions are a private organization whose sole responsibility is to represent the interests of dues paying members.  Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize an organization that does not represent them, regardless of their claims about benefiting districts.

*This amount does not include the district's portion of payroll taxes and benefits.

District	Association President	Release Time Granted	Teacher Salary UtahsRight.com	% of Teacher Salary Paid By District	Approx. Amount Paid to Association President by District*
Davis	Susan Firmage	Full-time	$50,549	Up to 50%	$25,274.50
Granite	Jay R. Blain	Full-time	$56,492	50%	$28,246.00
Salt Lake	Virginia Ellison	Full-time	$73,032	33.33%	$24,344.00

*Other districts sampled were Jordan (who does not participate in association leave), Cache and Logan.