HB 1905 -- Professional Relationships Between Teachers and School
Districts Act

Sponsor:  Wilson (130)

This bill 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 their
individual grievances 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 and cannot be represented by
an 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 bill, impose or threaten to impose reprisals, or refuse or
fail to cooperate in good faith.  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 lose their
authority to represent employees for two years 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 bill, 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 and establishing employee
organizations, 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.  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.

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