HCS HB 1905 -- PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHERS AND
SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACT

SPONSOR:  Wallace (Wilson, 130)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Elementary
and Secondary Education by a vote of 12 to 1.

This substitute establishes the Professional Relationships
Between Teachers and School Districts Act which specifies the
procedures under which local school boards can meet and negotiate
with employee organizations.

Public school employees have the right to form, join, or refrain
from joining an employee organization; to present grievances to
his or her employer without the intervention of the organization;
and to express opinions if it does not interfere with the
employee's duties.  Employee organizations have the right to
establish membership criteria, to represent employees and
communicate with them, to use school facilities in certain
circumstances, and to have membership dues deducted from an
employee's pay.  They must fairly represent each employee in the
bargaining unit, and they have standing to sue on behalf of their
members.

Members of management and those with supervisory or confidential
capacities may represent themselves or be represented by their
own employee organization.  Employers may not impose or threaten
to impose reprisals or discriminate or threaten to discriminate,
deny the employee organization any of its rights, refuse or fail
to meet and negotiate in good faith, or dominate or interfere
with the formation of employee organizations.  Employee
organizations may not cause or attempt to cause a public school
employer or employee organization to violate the provisions of
the substitute, impose or threaten to impose reprisals,
discriminate or threaten to discriminate, or refuse or fail to
cooperate in good faith with an employee or another employee
organization. Employees may not strike, and employers may not
lock out employees.  Teachers face dismissal or the loss of
tenure and a $250 fine for each day of an illegal strike, while
an employee organization may be fined each day in an amount of:

(1)  $1,000 for a school district with an enrollment of up to 350
students;

(2)  $1,500 for a school district with an enrollment of between
351 and 1,000 students;

(3)  $3,000 for a school district with an enrollment of between
1,001 and 3,500 students;

(4)  $5,000 for a school district with an enrollment of between
3,501 and 7,500 students; or

(5)  $7,500 for a school district with an enrollment of more than
7,500 students.

Employee organizations sponsoring strikes will be ineligible to
represent employees for two years after the violation and to have
dues deducted from employee paychecks for one year.  School
employers will be fined up to $5,000 a day for an illegal lock
out, and each member of the public school employer's governing
board and school superintendent will be fined $250 per day for an
illegal lock out.

Every local school board must adopt and publish a policy that
establishes a time line to begin negotiations before the adoption
of the final budget sufficiently in advance of the adoption to
allow adequate time for an agreement to be reached.  The scope of
negotiation is limited to wages, hours, and other terms of
employment as specified in the substitute, but nothing prohibits
the parties from mutually agreeing to discuss other terms of
employment.  All matters not specifically enumerated are reserved
to the school board.

Each school district must adopt and publish a policy on the
procedures for recognizing organizations of the employees' own
choosing for the purpose of meeting and negotiating, but nothing
precludes a district from working with more than one employee
organization.  Each recognized employee organization must develop
a protocol for cooperation between and among all employee
organizations to allow them to act together on behalf of all
employees in the bargaining unit, including a procedure for
communications between all groups, as well as protocols to ensure
a binding agreement is honored and enforced.  Each school
district and employee organization must enter into a written
agreement covering the matters in the meeting and negotiations
which will be sent to the local school board after it is ratified
by the employee organization to accept or send back for further
negotiations at which time the local school board may enter into
impasse procedures as allowed by the school district's policy,
which must be developed in consultation with employee
representatives.  The agreement is binding after ratification by
the employee organization and approval by the local school board
and is a public document.  The negotiation meetings are covered
under the Open Meetings and Records Law, commonly known as the
Sunshine Law.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of Unknown -
Not expected to exceed $100,000 in FY 2011, FY 2012, and FY 2013.
No impact on Other State Funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that since the Missouri Supreme
Court's decision allowed teachers to bargain employment
agreements, the General Assembly needs to provide a framework for
the negotiations between school boards and employee
organizations.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Wilson (130);
Missouri State Teachers Association; Missouri School Boards
Association; and Cooperating School Districts of Greater St.
Louis.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that it makes more
sense for teachers and police to be covered under the existing
framework of Chapter 105, RSMo.

Testifying against the bill were Missouri National Education
Association; Missouri Federation of Teachers and School Related
Personnel; and Missouri AFL-CIO.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:12 pm