“Following
a heated debate, the Kansas State Legislature passed a bill, HB2506, on April 6
that ‘kills long-held teacher rights’ to due process. According to
MSNBC.com, the bill passed ‘over the objections of hundreds of teachers and
activists’ protesting the bill…
“Until now, a teacher with three years
of experience was guaranteed the right to receive a written reason for possible
termination and the right to appeal the decision. Teachers in Kansas have had the right to due
process since 1957. Without it, a teacher could be fired for being gay, or
disagreeing politically with an administrator, and have no recourse…
“Washington Post education
blogger Valerie Strauss, citing an Associated Press story, noted how teachers'
rights ‘go away’ under the new legislation, as well as the Koch funding tied to
Americans for Prosperity, the group pushing the bill.
“According to this Associated Press
story, Kansas teachers who have been on the job for at least three years have
certain rights when they are being fired. They must be told in writing why the
action was taken and they have the right to request a review of the decision.
Under the new law, those rights go away.
“Pushing
the effort to end teacher tenure, the AP reported, was a group called Americans
for Prosperity, backed by the extreme conservative billionaires Charles and
David Koch, who have funded other anti-union measures around the country (Washington
Post, Answer Sheet Blog)…
“According to the Kansas State
Legislature webpage for the legislation, the bill was introduced by the
Committee on General Government Budget, chaired by Republican Representative
Pete DeGraaf. SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy, lists
DeGraaf as a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC)
Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force. The Nation previously
reported that ‘untold sums of cash’ have been poured into ALEC by the Koch
brothers…
Note the role of ALEC in this crap. The very organization whose Illinois Chairman the IEA endorsed for Governor. On the other hand, North Carolina courts just ruled a similar law there was unconstitutional.
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