Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for September 7, 2006 DETROIT SCHOOL STRIKE

Republicans fume while "renegade" judge bides her time on enforcing "unconstitutional" law.

From The Detroit News...

School strike law faces test

Christine MacDonald and Catherine Jun / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Community leaders criticized a Detroit judge Wednesday as Republicans vowed to toughen a law that they believe should have forced striking teachers of Michigan's largest school district back into the classroom.

Local and state leaders accused Wayne County Circuit Judge Susan Borman of ignoring the state law by not ordering Detroit Public Schools teachers back to work at a Tuesday hearing.

The teachers strike, 10 days old on Wednesday, has sparked a legal and political showdown over the controversial 1994 measure that requires judges to order striking public workers back to their jobs. Borman on Tuesday questioned the constitutionality of the law and delayed a decision on whether she'd tell teachers to return until after a hearing today. Even then, she's likely to rule on other grounds.

The lack of a settlement means school was to be canceled for the second straight day today for the district's 129,000 students. And the district announced late Wednesday, as negotiations continued into the night, that it immediately will lay off all noninstructional staff who work 10 months of the year.

"A rational decision would be to send the teachers back to work until we make a decision," said Detroit school board member Reverend David Murray. Borman "knows (students are) not in school, she knows there's nowhere else to go, but they're not her children."

At the heart of the issue is Borman's uncertainty that the Legislature can force the courts to rule in a certain way -- to issue an injunction ordering teachers back to class -- as the law requires. Some suggest that the law violates the democratic doctrine known as the separation of powers, which holds that the legislative and judicial branches of government must not interfere with each other.

Supported by then-Gov. John Engler, the Legislature in 1994 amended a 1947 law outlawing strikes by public workers. It followed a series of school strikes, including a 1992 strike in Detroit.

The revisions added penalties aimed at halting the strikes: fines and the requirement that judges order strikers back to work.

Borman cited a 1995 Wayne County ruling in a case between teachers unions and the state that struck down the part of the law requiring courts issue an injunction during a strike, saying it was unconstitutional. The state did not appeal that portion of the ruling.

Borman, whose term expires in 2008, wouldn't comment further Wednesday.

Dan DeGrow, former state Senate majority leader who pushed the 1994 change, accused Borman of playing politics in union-friendly Detroit.

"The law is clear," said DeGrow, now the superintendent of the St. Clair County Intermediate School District. "The judge can make all the excuses she wants."

DeGrow said he believes the law is valid and isn't surprised the 1995 case wasn't appealed.

"Nobody takes Wayne County seriously," he said. "They are always going to find a way to not enforce the law because they are elected by labor."

But Robert Sedler, constitutional law professor at Wayne State University, said Borman's concern is legitimate. "There are some serious questions about constitutionality," he said.

Lawyers with the Detroit Federation of Teachers argued that the 1994 law is unconstitutional.

Robert McCormick, a professor at Michigan State University's Detroit College of Law, said he believes the Legislature can mandate that judges rule in a certain way. For instance, the Legislature sets mandatory minimum sentences for crimes.

Yet he thinks there is more than a legal question at stake, because forcing the teachers back would not necessarily bring the two sides closer to a deal.

"The judge is trying to work things out so she doesn't have to bring down the weight of the government on either party," he said.

Former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, also a former Michigan Supreme Court justice, urged the community not to rush to judgment on Borman saying that if her delay means a quicker settlement, "the judge looks like a heroine."

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leaders said Wednesday they are working to close any loopholes in the 1994 measure, said Ari Adler, spokesman for Senate majority leader Ken Sikkema.

Adler said he is not sure the Legislature can be any clearer on the judge's responsibility, saying Borman may just be a "renegade judge."

"The people who should be taking action are failing these kids," Adler said. "The people of Detroit are being let down by a court system that refuses to enforce the law and a governor that refuses to enforce the law."

House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, said he may look at allowing Wayne County Community College District to start new charter schools in the city in order to give parents alternatives to the troubled district.

In an interview with The Detroit News, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she is doing all she can to resolve the strike peacefully. She says the courts must rule on whether the teachers can be forced back.

"I am involved in the DPS strike in terms of the mediator that I sent there," Granholm said of the representative she sent last week.

"Believe me, we are there urging both sides to come to the middle."

Community leaders, such as longtime Detroit activist Helen Moore, said the court needs to step up to force teachers back. The two sides have been talking around-the-clock since Aug. 28.

"(Borman) needs to get our schools back," Moore said. "We are very upset because we put our children first."

While the 1994 law remains in question, the district plans to launch a separate legal argument today that Borman must stop the walkout because it will cause irreparable harm to the district.

Even if Borman orders the teachers back to school, they may not comply. In a 43-day strike in 1973, teachers defied a back-to-work order; a Wayne County Circuit judge found them guilty of contempt of court and fined them $2.5 million. The fines were dismissed when both sides reached an agreement. Teachers also defied a similar order in 1992.

Janna Garrison, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, declined to comment on how she would instruct the teachers if ordered back. "Right now, our focus is on getting a contract today."