Thousands of Students Miss Class Because of Right-to-work Protests

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Michigan teachers statewide are catching flack after calling in sick on Tuesday to attend protests in Lansing where Gov. Rick Snyder signed right-to-work legislation. Estimates show more than 25,000 students missed school.

The Michigan Education Association, a self-governing education association representing more than 157,000 teachers, faculty and education support staff, encouraged its members to join the peaceful “Day of Action,” with Michigan becoming the 24th right-to-work state.

Joining in was also the AFT Michigan, AFL-CIO, which is a union of 35,000 educators working in K-12 and intermediate school districts, community colleges, and universities across the state.

The result left school districts with empty schools and plenty of questions

“Our decision to close school was based solely on student safety given the number of staff who called in absent,” said Warren Superintendent Robert Livernois in a statement. “At the time we made the decision (Monday), we had nearly 500 staff members already notify the district of their absence for today. This number was far beyond the amount able to be covered by substitute staff. [Tuesday] we had a total of 750 staff call in absent, making our decision to close school a very smart and prudent one for the sake of our students.”

Livernois stressed in his statement that the Board of Education didn’t close the schools so the district staff could go to Lansing.

He said, “We are currently reviewing all options related to today’s school closure, especially as it relates to the loss of instruction and the number of staff absent.”

Added Warren School Board Member Ben Lazarus to Michigan Capitol, “I do understand that [teachers] have a political position, [but] the first priority of a teacher should be student learning. I don’t think this adds to that.”

In the Taylor School District, teachers were encouraged to attend the protests.

“A number of teachers have chosen to use a personal day, which is their right,” Taylor Federation of Teachers President Linda Moore told the Oakland Press. She characterized the actions of state officials as making an attack on “our students’ future.”

She added that response among parents and the public had been supportive. “Taylor is a working-class community,” Moore said. “We have received a lot of calls from parents in support to go.”

Union officials are worried what effect the new right-to-work legislation, which was forced through the House of Representatives and Senate last week, will have on his organization.

Last week Detroit Federation of Teachers President Keith Johnson said he’s unsure his union could survive the passage of right-to-work legislation, pointing out many teachers could opt out of paying their dues while the union would still be forced to provide services in the form of contract negotiations and arbitration, reported CBS News. The recently passed legislation bans automatic payroll deductions of union dues.

When visiting Michigan earlier in the week, President Barack Obama, said the new legislation was a political ploy.

“We should do everything we can to keep creating good middle-class jobs that help folks rebuild security for their families,” Obama said, reported the Huffington Post. “And by the way, what we shouldn’t do – I’ve just got to say this — what we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions.”

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