By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

ROMEO, Mich. – For far too long, many states have allowed teachers unions and their members to live off the fat of expired collective bargaining agreements.

That means all the expensive financial perks written into those contracts remain intact until new agreements are negotiated and approved. That gives unions very little incentive to negotiate in good faith. They know their gravy train will keep rolling until they eventually get the terms they desire in a new contract.

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Michigan lawmakers recently put an end to that nonsense, passing a law (Public Act 54) that dismisses many provisions of collective bargaining agreements once they expire.

The school board in the Romeo district recently decided to use that law to save some much-needed money, and the district’s teachers union is hopping mad.

The school year traditionally begins in Romeo before Labor Day weekend, according to a story published by the Romeo Observer. This year the school board moved the start date to Sept. 5, a week later than usual.

There was good reason for the move. The union collective bargaining agreement expired Aug. 31. According to Public Act 54, if classes had started before that date, the district would have been obligated to pay teachers automatic, annual salary increases for the new school year.

Those raises generally cost school districts six or seven figures per year.

But since the contract expired before the start of the school year, the raises will not be paid and the district will save a great deal of money.

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Romeo obviously has some smart school board members who consider the interests of overburdened taxpayers when making decisions.

But the Michigan Education Association is crying foul, saying the start and end dates for any school year should be negotiated. Union officials said they are victims of an illegal “lockout” and threatened the district with legal action.

“They purposefully imposed a calendar which starts the teacher’s work year after the deadline,” said Paula Herbart, a local union official.

So what? School board members did what the law allows them to do. Just like the unions took full advantage of the old law that allowed them to live comfortably under the terms of expired contracts, sometimes for several years at a time.

The two sides have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement all summer, without success. Maybe now union officials will get serious about negotiations, since they no longer have their automatic raises to fall back on.

In the meantime, we’re happy to know that the Romeo school district will have more money to spend on students this year, instead of wasting it on automatic raises that have no connection to teacher performance.