Upset with Tucson teachers who called in sick to protest ICE, state lawmakers are moving to require that they be fired and forfeit any rights to reemployment in the Arizona education system.
On a party-line vote, the state House on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to legislation to spell out in the state Education Code that teachers may not “strike or engage in an organized work stoppage” against the school district or charter school.
A 1971 opinion by the Attorney General’s Office concluded that strikes by teachers are illegal. But there were no repercussions from a six-day walkout over teacher pay by about 50,000 teachers throughout the state.
But what this legislation would do, according to Rep. Matt Gress, is create a clear definition of what he said are coordinated work stoppages—something he said apparently is outside the definition of a strike.
“There really isn’t a statutory consequence if someone fakes being sick and doing so in an organized fashion,” said Gress, a Phoenix Republican.
What prompted HB 2313 was the decision by some teachers in Tucson last month to go along with nationwide protests against deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in cities. That followed the killing of two U.S. citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
“This was not a traditional strike over pay or contracts,” Gress told colleagues. “It was a coordinated work stoppage tied to a political protest against ICE.”
The result, he said, is that more than 20 schools were closed for a day.
“Tens of thousands of students were sent home and parents were left scrambling for child care,” said Gress.
“Whatever one’s views are on federal immigration policy, our public schools should not be shut down to make a political point,” he continued. “And that’s exactly what happened in the Tucson Unified School District.”
Rep. Nancy Gutierrez noted the current laws against teacher strikes. This, she said, is overkill.
“This proposes extreme, career-ending consequences on educators,” said the Tucson Democrat who also is a former teacher.
“It tells educators that one misstep may erase an entire career and all of the rights they have earned through the years of service,” Gutierrez said.
And she said lawmakers also need to be aware of the existing reality of how hard it is to keep qualified and trained teachers in classrooms.
“What we have is an enormous lack of folks who are willing to put up with the disrespect that comes with being a public-school educator already,” Gutierrez said. “So we have lots of classrooms already that do not have a qualified educator in them.”
What’s also lost in the legislation, she said, is what was behind the sickout.“This came because teachers were so sick over what was happening in another state that they chose to take sick leave, which is their right, and go to a protest,” Gutierrez said. “They had every right to do that.”
Not so, argued Gress.
“Education is a constitutional responsibility, and schools exist to serve students, not become leverage in political or labor disputes,” he said.
Gress said the legislation draws a clear line “that disagreements and advocacy must happen without closing schools and without sacrificing learning time.”
Gutierrez said it isn’t that simple.
“Sometimes students learn more from us as teachers by what we actually do than what we say in the class,” she said.
Gutierrez said there is teaching in the classroom, with curriculum and standards.
“But if I as a teacher take a day off and go to a protest, and my students see, ‘Wow, my teacher is willing to take her sick time to go stand up for my community,’ to me, I’m proud of that,” she said. “And I will always stand for those teachers who choose their students, their family and their community over this political nonsense.”
All that still leaves the question of how to determine if teachers are really under the weather when they call in “sick.” Gress said it should be obvious.
“If all of your colleagues got the flu and threw up, I think that would be uncanny,” he said.
And if nothing else, Gress said, schools could require a note from a doctor.
His HB 2313 does not actually prohibit a teacher from using sick time, even to go to a demonstration or for any other reason. The penalties would not apply “if the teacher is not acting in concern with one or more other individuals in a strike or an organized work stoppage.”
The measure requires a final roll-call vote before going to the Senate.
