Thursday, May 26, 2011

MI Teacher Rewarded With $135,000 For Threatened To Kill Herself and The Principal

In the real world, you get fired for something like this, thrown in the can and charged under the law. But in the artificial world propped up by thousand-page union contracts, you don't even get a slap on the wrist. Instead, you collect a bounty. From The Detroit News: Threaten the boss, win $135,000
...Upset at being suspended for two weeks for showing the R-rated movie "The Butterfly Effect" to an advanced psychology class without permission, Brown apparently went off her nut and threatened to kill herself and Principal Karl Heidrich.

Her threats were overheard by others who reported them to police.

In today's zero tolerance environment, a student who made such a threat would be expelled from school immediately, with little recourse for getting back in.

Brown, as a teacher, was placed on administrative leave, and her pay and benefits continued while school authorities figured out what to do.

What the district wanted to do, of course, is what any reasonable employer would do in that situation — fire the employee who made the threats in the interest of workplace safety.

But that's not such a simple decision when the employee is a teacher protected by both a union and tenure. The district, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported, feared that getting rid of Brown the old-fashioned way would take months and a lot of cash.

The tenure law gives teachers the right to appeal a dismissal to the State Tenure Commission, a process that can take up to six months and cost $75,000. And the commission's decision can be appealed in court, adding to the cost and time consumed.

So Stockbridge instead entered into negotiations with Brown to convince her to leave voluntarily. Last month she did, with a $50,000 severance payout. When added to the pay and benefits earned while Brown was on leave, the cost to the district is $135,000.
For the union types that claim everything in that union contract is there to help educate the children, explain the above. Also, explain this that I posted on just recently: Video Report: Union’s ‘Last In, First Out’ Rule Forces Layoffs For Best and Brightest Teachers From Poor/Minority Schools
Exit question: how long before the above teacher is hired in Wisconsin?: The 'New Civility' (Cont'd): WI Teacher Charged With Sending Death Threats to GOP Lawmakers

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