PROTECTION OF TEACHER RIGHTS

WHEREAS, before the attainment of collective bargaining, teacher rights and benefits were based in large part on state legislation and the unilateral actions of school boards; and

WHEREAS, over the years a large body of state legislation has been developed to include such basic areas as academic freedom, minimum salaries, certification procedures, tenure, sick leave, sabbaticals, fringe benefits, and other minimum working conditions; and

WHEREAS, these minimum standards provided an important part of the framework within which collective bargaining by teachers proceeded; and

WHEREAS, recently many of these legislated protections have been under attack by local school boards, frequently on grounds that the existence of collective bargaining is antithetical to the continuance of legislated benefits; and

WHEREAS, in some cases state legislatures have revoked or weakened such laws, to the detriment of teachers:

RESOLVED, that the locals be instructed to give full support to teachers who are victims of political persecution and are threatened with loss of their jobs; and

RESOLVED, that we continue to fight for the continuation of teacher rights and the expansion of teacher rights in our state legislatures and that the AFT locals simultaneously seek to negotiate contractual protection in those areas where the sole protections are now provided by state legislatures.