Ray Smith's Remarks to School Board Study Session, October 7, 2008
Mrs. Callen, Dr. Ridder, Board Members and Cabinet:
I am very proud to present to the board 1,140 signatures from Springfield teachers calling for the Springfield R-XII school district to conduct an election so that teachers may choose their own bargaining agent.
The language of the petition is clear: "We the undersigned, in order to execute our rights under the Missouri Constitution, Article 1, Section 29, "employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through a representative of their own choosing", hereby request the Springfield R-XII School District conduct an election so that teachers, nurses and parent educators may choose either SNEA or SMSTA as their bargaining agent."
In most card campaigns or petition drives of this nature, outside help is required, especially in a district with over 50 buildings and some 1,700 teachers. It is important to note that this particular petition drive was done entirely at the "grassroots" level - conducted teacher-to-teacher in the hallways, classrooms and workrooms across the district.
I'm extremely proud of those teachers who gave their time and put forth a great effort to gather these 1,140 signatures. It is also worth noting that the total far exceeds the membership of any one teacher group in our district.
Supreme Court Decision, May 2007
On May 30, 2007, the Missouri Supreme Court held that Article I, Section 29 of the Missouri Constitution provided that teachers had the right, as public employees, to organize and choose their own representation in order to bargain terms and conditions of employment.
The language of the Constitution is clear when it states that employees have the right to bargain collectively through a representative of their own choosing . . . it's worth noting that neither administrators nor school boards were given the right to choose employee representation - not by committee, not by advisory group . . . only the employees, in this case the teachers, can choose a bargaining agent to represent them.
The customary and accepted way we choose representation in our democracy is by secret ballot election. (By the way, electing a bargaining agent does not require any teacher to join or switch their association membership. Some have been spreading this misconception, and it's simply not true.)
The SNEA proposal reflects a best practice in thousands of school districts across our country and many highly successful districts in our own state. Rockwood, one of our benchmark districts, ratified a contract last spring after a mutually respectful negotiating process.
The proposals put forth by the administration and MSTA vary in title only and are virtually identical in every other respect. They would have the teacher groups form yet another committee to provide input or advice. We've tried that before in 1990 - and in a limited form with a dysfunctional Compensation Committee - and both proved to be totally ineffective.
SNEA has already issued a resolution that expresses our opposition to and our refusal to be a part of any contrived scheme that does not provide teachers with a single, accountable unified voice. We've been down that road before with TAMAC in the early 1990's - didn't work. There is no accountability to such a plan, just more playing of one organization off the other.
Last year, MSTA proposed legislation that eventually died in a Senate committee. Our own State Senator, who is no liberal, characterized the plan as "worse than doing nothing". Now, that plan with slight modification, has re-emerged in this assembly room.
SNEA believes that, in a democracy, representation is chosen through secret ballot elections. It's how all our representatives are chosen, including our representation on the school board. We strongly urge you to make the constitutionally sound decision, the decision that was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court, the decision that respects the views of at least 1,140 Springfield teachers . . . and vote to allow teachers to exercise their right to choose their own bargaining agent.
Thank You
