State Board of Education Member Interjects Herself Into Negotiations Between Union, Charter School Operator
Michelle Fecteau is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers
A State Board of Education member is using her influence and getting involved in a local dispute between a union and charter public school operator.
Not only do board guidelines suggest this is outside the scope of the board's job, but the member, Michelle Fecteau, is an officer in a union connected with the group negotiating with the school.
Cesar Chavez Academy in Detroit is one of the largest charter public schools in the state. The staff voted to unionize earlier this year as an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. Fecteau is the executive director of the Wayne State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which also is affiliated with the AFT.
She did not return a request for comment regarding the potential conflict of interest or to answer questions about whether the letter, which was sent using State Board of Education stationary, was appropriate.
The Leona Group and the Cesar Chavez Academy Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff are negotiating but don't yet have a contract.
In the letter, Fecteau wrote: "The State of Michigan grants certain powers and responsibilities to the CCA Board to ensure that the district complies with state and federal laws … I urge both the Board and the Leona Group to work with the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (the union) to resolve all issues at the district — especially those that have resulted in [labor complaints]. All parties have an obligation to the students and families of Detroit to participate in the decision-making process and ensure conflicts are resolved at the bargaining table, not at the NLRB."
She then asked the group to contact her by Dec. 16 so she would "know how the Michigan Board of Education can help make CCA the best possible school community."
Another State Board of Education member said he disagrees with Fecteau getting involved in the issue.
"We board members tend to give each other broad discretion in pursuing particular concerns, offering help, etc., but in offering the board's help, she gives the appearance of speaking for those of us who may not share her view of the issue," said Board Member Richard Zeile.
He added that he thinks State board members should be "referees" rather than active "players" in the educational game.
Zeile's concerns were echoed by Javier Garibay, a regional vice president with The Leona Group.
"I find the attached letter particularly disturbing since this elected official should concentrate on the business of improving state standards and strengthening financially insolvent school districts," Garibay said. "Since when is an elected State Board of Education official obligated to interject him/herself in the negotiation process?"
Alicia Urbain, Vice President of Government and Legal Affair with the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, said they are "disappointed" with the letter.
"We understand that Cesar Chavez and the Leona Group are currently in negotiations with the charter school subsidiary of the AFT," Urbain said. "While we take no position in the ongoing negotiating process, we are disappointed and surprised to see the anyone from the SBE would try to add what appears from this letter to be undue influence in the process."
According to the Michigan Constitution, the state board is in charge of "general supervision" of public schools in the state. It does "general planning," advises the Legislature and appoints a superintendent. According to its latest "Mission and Priorities," adopted in June 2013, the board sets and advocates for general educational guidelines. It does not appear to have gotten involved in specific local issues in the past.
State Board President John Austin said it should have been made more clear that Fecteau was acting on behalf of herself and not the board.
"[Board members] are often engaged and active in trying to encourage educators and parents at various levels to work through issues in the appropriate manner — and at the appropriate level," Austin said. "And we do often talk with each other about how to best be helpful in a particular situation — or ask our MDE staff to investigate further the situation if that is appropriate."
Editor's Note: This article has been updated with a comment from State Board President John Ausin.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
The Ghosts of Christmases Past
Haunted by public sector pensions
At the beginning of the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge wouldn't give so much as a farthing to the poor. However, he also didn't reach into the pockets of others and spend their money so irresponsibly that it risked putting them and their children in the poorhouse.
Sticking to the Dickens theme, it is appropriate to point out that every man, woman and child in this nation is haunted by the ghosts of Christmases past. This is a fact of life, not only in deep, dark December, but 365 days a year.
One estimate of how much taxpayers owe for underfunded public employee pensions in the United States put the red ink at $115 trillion. This — probably conservative — estimate was made a year and a half ago. It has undoubtedly increased since then.
Let's pause here to once again describe $1 trillion. A four-inch stack of $1,000 bills in your hand makes you a millionaire. To reach just $1 trillion, the stack would have to be 67 miles high.
It is repeatedly said that the trillions of dollars we owe on these unfunded pensions is so staggering that it can't be ignored. In reality it is so staggering that, because of our sense of helplessness, we are virtually forced to ignore it. Doing otherwise would mean living day to day in despair.
Who is to blame? Many would point fingers at the unions. In the 1960s and 1970s the unions, foreseeing the eventual decline of large labor-intensive industries in the private sector, began moving into the growing government sector.
But indicting the unions would be misplacing the guilt.
The fatal flaw in government unionism has always been on the government side of the equation. Government unions wouldn't exist without initial government approval. Then, after granting its approval, the government side failed to protect the public at the bargaining table.
In the private sector, businesses can't ignore economic reality by giving in to unrealistic union demands. They open their books and say, “look, we've had a lousy couple of years. We have to cut back or go under. We can't give you what you want.”
That reality check doesn't apply to government, which is always bargaining with other people's money. Those “other people” are us, the taxpayers. Over the decades, when faced with unpopular choices of cutting services or raising taxes, government officials have given unions most of what they asked for and left the tab to be picked up by future generations.
Now, with the average federal civil servant compensation package at $123,049 a year, we're looking at unfunded pension costs beyond imagination. And the looming question is: When will the day of reckoning arrive?
Every step that brought us to our current situation was taken under the guise of being made for the public good. Those decisions, the ghosts of those past years, all those past Christmases, continue to gather around us menacingly.
We live in the only nation in history that was started by leaders who unashamedly declared government as something to be distrusted and feared. Thomas Jefferson openly defined government as “evil,” a necessary evil but an evil nonetheless.
Today, politicians of both major political parties stand at podiums beneath Jefferson's portrait. But how many would have the courage to openly proclaim that government is something to be feared or to say that it is evil?
Individuals who make a fraction of the mistakes and commit violations of common sense the way governments do would be considered lunatics. Yet we watch governments go from folly to folly but rarely connect the dots.
Jefferson was expressing the attitude and spirit behind the American dream – a people must limit the freedom of their government or government will limit the freedom of the people.
Leaders who understand the corruptive nature of government have been too scarce for a long, long time. This has been the primary deficiency from which our political process has suffered.
Whether the issue is the monstrous public pension debt or any of the other messes our government has created, only leaders who possess this key ingredient can guide us to the right path.
Unfortunately, it will likely take an actual crisis — not just an impending crisis — to bring us back to our roots. Maybe then we can dispel the ghosts of the past and make Christmases yet to come all the better for having done so.
Editor’s Note: Jack Spencer is Capitol Affairs Specialist for Michigan Capitol Confidential. He is a veteran Lansing-based journalist. His columns do not represent viewpoints of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy or Michigan Capitol Confidential.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
Want to support our work?
Help us tell the free market, limited government side of the story. Support Capitol Confidential today
Make a gift! Already a supporter