On August 8, 2024, the St. Tammany Parish School Board voted to accept a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers. The union voted to ratify the agreement the same day. The August vote followed a contentious July meeting where the school board rejected the CBA, with members expressing concern that the agreement ceded too much authority to the union. Unfortunately, the resulting agreement allows the union to usurp school principals’ authority to make choices about how their school is run. It’s a bad deal for the school board, students, and the taxpayers of St. Tammany Parish.

Let’s give credit where it’s due: The new CBA contains a few reforms for which the Pelican Institute advocated during the 2024 regular legislative session. First, the new agreement allows members to resign their membership with a month’s notice, rather than restricting resignation to a narrow drop window each year. Bargaining unit members who do not agree with how their dues are being spent, experience a change in their family’s financial circumstances, or who simply want to resign can now do so at any time. The Pelican Institute learned through public records requests that union dues for teachers are approximately $50 per month. Extra money in your paycheck can make a difference in a family budget as Louisiana’s economy continues to struggle.

Second, the new CBA improves the release time process. Release time is taxpayer funded lobbying for the benefit of a private organization, the union, and guarantees public employees paid time away from the classroom. The new agreement states that the Superintendent may authorize the use of personal days for lobbying. While not ideal, this new provision strikes a better balance between protecting taxpayers and allowing for civic participation.

Third, the agreement requires that the least effective teachers in targeted layoff areas be released first in the event a reduction in force is necessary. The Pelican Institute has been critical of CBAs that retain teachers on the basis of seniority, rather than effectiveness. Retaining the most effective teachers is critical in light of disappointing LEAP scores for 2024.

Finally, perhaps the most significant reform is a decertification provision. This section allows bargaining unit members to vote on whether they want to continue to be represented by their current union, a different union, or no union at all. The CBA points out that employees in St. Tammany Parish have been governed by a collective bargaining agreement since 1991. An entire generation of school employees has had no say in critical decisions governing their working conditions or how their dues are spent. Just as elected officials are held accountable periodically at the ballot box, the decertification process allows public employees to decide if their union is meeting their needs or whether it’s time to try something new.

Despite these improvements, the CBA remains a bad deal for students, taxpayers, and many employees. The CBA retains payroll deductions for member dues. The school board is responsible for collecting dues for a private organization and the CBA prohibits other private organizations from enjoying this convenience. There’s little daylight between a government employer deducting union dues and withholding money from your paycheck to make a monthly contribution to a political party, candidate, or cause. That’s because the National Federation of Teachers, of which St. Tammany Federation of Teachers is an affiliate, spends more on political activities and lobbying than they spend on representing their members. Employees who enjoy the benefits the union provides but disagree with the union’s politics or can’t justify the price can join other voluntary organizations for teachers and school professionals, but they’ll have to do their homework. The CBA prohibits competing organizations for making presentations at orientation, obtaining lists of new employees, sending emails, or even posting on a bulletin board.

Teacher unions are among the most vocal opponents of school choice and education freedom. Yet, St. Tammany Parish school employees join other collective bargaining parishes in enjoying the privilege of school choice. St. Tammany Parish employees are permitted to send their children to the school where they work, feeder schools, or any school of their choice if not based at a school. This perk underscores the fact that not all public schools are equal and allows bargaining unit members the freedom of finding a school that fits their child. Shouldn’t ALL families have that right?

The CBA also contains a detailed process for grievances. When an employee’s livelihood is in jeopardy, the CBA provides that he shall have the right to representation but only by the union. A school employee who chooses not to be a union member, or one who joins a voluntary membership organization that provides representation, has the option to accept a union representative or no representation at all. That’s not exactly an expansion of rights.

Lastly, the CBA includes a new section on digital misconduct that governs student behavior. Students—who are not a party to the contract—can face discipline for the modern-day rite of passage of making a meme of his teacher without the teacher’s knowledge or permission, even if the student alters a publicly available photo of a school employee and shares it with his friends after school. The provision is so broadly written that a student who takes a screenshot of a photo depicting a teacher engaged in unsavory conduct to show a parent could be disciplined. Not that long ago, disciplining students for off-campus activity ended in costly settlements for the Jefferson Parish School Board. St. Tammany Parish school board members are inviting the same legal challenges.

The School Board vote is particularly disappointing because it preserves the status quo. The Board promised positive change aimed at better serving students, families, and educators. Unfortunately, this decision puts politics over kids and taxpayers.