DETROIT – The state of Michigan is covering the legal expenses for the Detroit school district to sue two teachers who allegedly instigated a series of sick-outs last school year that shut down dozens of schools.

Detroit Public Schools filed the lawsuit in January against 28 teachers, union members and activists in an attempt to halt the sick-outs. The lawsuit came on the same day a staged teacher sick-out closed 88 of 100 district schools because teachers did not show up for work and instead protested education issues, the Detroit Free Press reports.

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The lawsuit has since been winnowed to two teachers: Nicole Conaway, 39, and former Detroit Federation of Teachers president Steve Conn, 58.

During a recent evidentiary hearing involving multiple witnesses, attorneys representing the school district “argued that Conn and Conaway made public comments that encouraged the sick-outs, which the district says were illegal strikes under the Michigan Public Employment Relations Act,” according to the new site.

“Shanta Driver, the attorney for Conn and Conaway, said her clients’ speech was political and clearly protected by the First Amendment. An injunction would have a ‘chilling effect’ on the ability of union members to speak out about problems or advocate strike actions, she said.”

The Detroit News reports the district spent more than $285,000 through May on outside attorneys to represent the district in the case, which came at the same time district officials worked to secure a $617 million bailout from the state.

District attorney Marquita Sylvia told the news site in an email that DPS opted to use the law firm of Dickinson Wright, instead of its own attorneys, because “outside counsel is engaged for specialized matters which require certain expertise and or to augment the efforts of in-house counsel.”

DPS Emergency Manager Steven Rhodes told the media in April that the teacher sick-outs threatened the district’s ability to meet the state’s minimal number of instructional days, which could have cost the district $2 million in funding.

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“It is not clear how much DPS incurred in costs for such expenses as meals that weren’t served and wages for nonteaching staff during the sickouts,” The Detroit News reports. “The district could not immediately provide a breakdown Monday.”

Driver is allegedly representing Conn and Conaway for free.

The news site highlighted the fact that district officials had no issue spending nearly $300,000 on the legal expenses at a time when roughly 50 schools are releasing students early during summer school due to a lack of air conditioning.

Some school board members also believe the legal expenses are “preposterous.”

“The district could hire at least five teachers with benefits and reduce class sizes,” board president LaMar Lemmons told the News. “I don’t like to see students out of the classroom, but some teachers may have coordinated their sick days in an effort to bring attention to deplorable conditions, and that is in keeping with historical civil nonviolent disobedience.”

“The amount of money being used for lawsuits … does appear to be a bit excessive,” said Percy Bates, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Michigan. “Surely these funds could be used towards educational purposes.”

News 9 & 10 reports the Michigan Department of Treasury recently agreed to pay more than $300,000 to cover the legal costs.

Conn and Conaway, meanwhile, don’t seem the least bit remorseful for goading hundreds of district educators into taking to the streets in protest, regardless of whether the action was legal.

“(Gov. Rick) Snyder and Rhodes are desperately trying to suppress opposition to their Detroit policies because they know how full well their policies are opposed in Detroit,” Conn told the News.

“We are on the right side of this,” Conaway told the Free Press, “and we are taking a stand for young people and the whole city of Detroit, and we’re not going to let his process intimidate us. …

“We’re going to continue to fight for democracy and equal, quality public education for young people.”