School Closings Tomorrow

So far 13 school districts in the southern part of our state have already announced schools shut down for tomorrow. There are no teachers to teach the children. They are all traveling to our capitol to march on the square.

The TA union is walking out tomorrow. Our faculty are not unionized, but faculty are marching tomorrow morning with the teaching assistants.

The noise has been deafening. In a good way. I have never in my life personally witnessed anything like what is happening here this week. It is incredible. One thing that was especially moving to me was to see all of the children and teenagers with signs supporting their teachers, standing up for their education.

I don't know what is going to happen with all of this. There has been a series of very weird news stories today about rumors that the governor has plans to remove our flagship institution from the rest of the state university system and increase Republican control over our flagship campus. This came from the associated press, not some random website. What on earth is happening...? Elimination of sabbaticals? Elimination of tenure? Or attempts to dismantle the non-flagship campuses? Nothing is making any sense.

3 more districts just announced closing in the time I've been typing this.

I have been hearing in the last hour that a vote may happen tonight.

Here are some facts about this bill:

-- It will cap any wage increases available to public employees at no more than the rate of inflation.

-- It will required public employees to at least double their health care contributions and pay in 50% of their pension contributions, reducing take-home pay by over 8%.

-- It will disallow collective bargaining on issues including insurance benefits, vacation and sick leave, procedures for discipline, decisions on whether to subcontract work, etc.

-- It will allow employers to discipline and fire employees without cause.

-- It will cut state funding to school districts and municipalities, which may force layoffs. It also eliminates seniority protection and layoff clauses from collective bargaining agreements, so senior employees who earn higher wages can be targeted for layoffs.

-- It will only allow a collective bargaining agreement to last for one year, and it requires unions representing public employees to take a vote every year to maintain their status as unions.

-- If the Governor declares a state of emergency (like he might do if this legislation creates any unrest among public employees), any employee who participates in any work action can be fired.

If all of this comes to pass, it'll also remain to be seen what happens specific to the universities. That is to be revealed next week. But I have to say, despite the insanity of what is happening here thanks to our high-school graduate governor and his cronies, I feel better than I did last week. This week I have seen the outpouring of support from all across the state and beyond. People really do give a shit. That has been incredibly heartening.