Teachers...are you ready to kiss tenure goodbye?

As currently amended, Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. Shannon Jones,, a suburban Cincinnati Republican, would ban strikes by public employees and, for police and fire contract negotiations, end binding arbitration. It would cap, at 85 percent, the maximum taxpayer share of public employee health-benefit costs; forbid public employers from picking up the tab for an employee's share of retirement contributions; and replace "continuing contracts" (essentially, automatically renewable contracts) for teachers with set-term contracts.

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/03/house_inherits_public_union_bi.html

House inherits public union bill: editorial

Published: Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Plain Dealer Editorial Board

Speaker William Batchelder, a William Batchelder, has vowed Ohio's House will hold thorough hearings before acting on the public employee collective-bargaining bill Senate Republicans passed Wednesday, 17-16.

As currently amended, Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. Shannon Jones, a suburban Cincinnati Republican, would ban strikes by public employees and, for police and fire contract negotiations, end binding arbitration. It would cap, at 85 percent, the maximum taxpayer share of public employee health-benefit costs; forbid public employers from picking up the tab for an employee's share of retirement contributions; and replace "continuing contracts" (essentially, automatically renewable contracts) for teachers with set-term contracts.

The Jones bill would cover 360,000 state and local public employees -- 42,000 in state government, 19,500 in state-aided colleges, 102,000 in local government and 196,000 in public schools.

Senate passage was the first of what should be several reviews of the bill, which, after all, drew just 17 Senate "yes" votes, the constitutional minimum -- none cast by Democrats. Three Greater Cleveland Republicans voted "no" -- Sens. Thomas Patton of Strongsville, Tim Grendell of Chesterland and Gayle Manning of North Ridgeville.

Conceptually, Senate Bill 5 -- by strengthening the hands of local government labor negotiators -- strengthens taxpayers' hands.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat, said of Senate Bill 5, responding to a question at his State of the City speech, "I fully recognize the need for change." But the mayor also cautioned that "a weak collective-bargaining unit that doesn't protect workers' rights is just a facade."

That is, honest reform must truly be balanced between public employees and public employers -- and balance is the No. 1 specification that Batchelder, perhaps the most experienced legislator in Columbus, must now meet.