While the Michigan Education Association continues to blame state budget cuts on the fiscal crisis facing some schools, many districts are getting more money per pupil but face dramatic drops in enrollment.

Albion Public Schools is just such a school. The school board voted last week to shut down its high school. The MEA blamed it on Gov. Rick Snyder's "budget cuts." 

But even after factoring in inflation, Albion received more money per pupil in 2011 than it did in 2007, according to the Michigan Department of Education. Including local, state and federal funding, Albion received $9,345 per pupil in 2006-07 ($10,138 in 2011 dollars). In actual dollars, Albion received $10,993 per pupil in 2010-11, the most recent year data is available.

The real problem facing Albion is the loss of students. In four years, the district lost 34 percent of its students, going from 1,427 pupils in 2007 to 943 in 2011. Meanwhile, the district reduced its teaching staff by 22 percent over the same time period, going from 91 classroom teachers to 71.

But the union contract didn't allow Albion to cut the least effective teachers. Instead, they were forced to keep the ones with the longest service, regardless of performance.

In 2007, the district employed 47 teachers who had 10 years of experience or less. By 2011, that number had dwindled by more than half, to 22. However, the number of teachers with 11 years of experience or more — the more expensive teachers — increased from 44 to 49.

Based on the union salary schedule, teachers with more seniority make more money. The average teacher's salary in Albion jumped from $47,558 in 2007 (not adjusted for inflation) to $53,080 in 2011.

"Part of Albion's problem may be that the district is retaining its most expensive teachers," said Audrey Spalding, an education policy analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "The district has used seniority to determine layoffs, instead of weighing the expense of retaining a teacher against the value that teacher provides to the district."

Earlier this month, the Albion school board decided to stop teaching high school students, according to MLive. 

That's a good decision, Spalding said, adding that "drastic times call for drastic measures."

As for the MEA continually blaming lack of funding for the fiscal mess at some schools, documents show that even those schools aren't buying the MEA's reasoning.

For example, the Buena Vista School District recently was closed when it ran out of money. However, the Michigan Department of Education gave the district state money it was withholding to allow it to resume operations.

In the deficit-elimination plan that Buena Vista school officials submitted to the state a year ago, they stated that the loss of students and not right-sizing the district fast enough was the reason for its deficit.

Pontiac Public School and Benton Harbor Public Schools also stated the loss of students as a major reason for its deficit in their deficit-elimination plans to the state.

Taylor Public Schools and its faculty union might have bypassed more than just the right-to-work law with their agreement earlier this year, according to a motion filed in the case.

In an apparent rush to get a contract approved before the state's right-to-work law went into effect, the union and school district seemed to have skipped a fundamental element of forming a contract.

That's a key argument made in a summary judgment motion filed by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. The foundation is representing special education teacher Angela Steffke, special education teacher Nancy Rhatigan, and English teacher Rebecca Metz in the lawsuit.

According to the motion, an agreement between the district and union, under which Taylor teachers would be required to pay union dues and fees until 2023, lacked "consideration." In contractual language, "consideration" is something that each side gives up to the other side in exchange for what they are getting. Under law, some sort of consideration is required.

"By entering into the Unions Security Agreement, the Taylor School Board is attempting to set an unbreakable policy to be followed by subsequent school boards whether they like it or not," said Derk Wilcox, senior attorney for the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. “Legislative bodies, such as the school board, cannot bind subsequent bodies like that to an unalterable policy. They have set in stone (for 10 years) the policy of requiring schools to demand that teachers pay the union, and firing the teacher for not paying the union if the union requests it. They tried to do this by using a contract. That is not permissible unless it is a real contract for a tangible good or service. This agreement does not meet that requirement."

Michigan's right-to-work law prohibits requiring employees to pay a union dues or fees as a condition of employment.

Earlier this year, the Taylor School District and Taylor Federation of Teachers Local 1085 negotiated two separate agreements. That took place between the signing of Michigan's right-to-work law in December and March 28, the date the law took effect.

One agreement was a four-year collective bargaining agreement. The other agreement was a 10-year union security agreement, under which Taylor teachers are forced to pay union dues or fees for the next decade to keep their jobs.

On Feb. 28, the three Taylor teachers filed a lawsuit contesting the legality of a new contract between the Taylor district and the union. 

The case is before Wayne County Circuit Judge Daphne Means Curtis. A June hearing had been set, but now is expected to be rescheduled for a later date. Both sides have filed summary judgment motions.

Wilcox said in his motion that no valid consideration was given in the Taylor union security agreement. Duties owed as part of the collective bargaining agreement had already been given and therefore could not be given again in the union security agreement.

Another argument made in the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation motion is that general labor law of Michigan holds that there should be one collective bargaining agreement and that all the terms should expire around the same time without side agreements. Wilcox said that to allow otherwise would make portions of Michigan's labor law meaningless.

Taylor School District and the union are both represented by the same attorney, Mark H. Cousens. His primary argument is that the court lacks jurisdiction and the case should go before the Michigan Employment Relations Commission.