Act 53 of 2012 was filed on March 16 and given “immediate effect.”  It prohibited a public school employer from payroll deduction and transmission (to the union) of union dues or service fees, unless required to do so under the terms of an unexpired collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

On April 2, the Ingham County Circuit Court issued a preliminary injunction which halted Act 53’s “immediate effect” while judicial challenges to it were pending.  Therefore, the Act’s prohibition against the deduction of union dues became inapplicable, at least temporarily.

Most recently, however, on April 9, the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the Ingham County Circuit Court’s preliminary injunction and reinstated Act 53’s “immediate effect,” while judicial challenges and appeals are pending.  Therefore, public school employers should once again refrain from the payroll deduction of union dues or service fees unless obligated to do so pursuant to an existing and unexpired CBA.

There will obviously be further developments as the pending litigation progresses.  If you have questions regarding this evolving issue in the meantime, however, please contact one of our school law attorneys.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at 4:57 pm and is filed under School Law.

The Ingham County Circuit Court has just (on April 2, 2012) issued a preliminary injunction which essentially suspends Act 53’s “immediate effect.”  Therefore, pending further developments, school districts are not currently prohibited from the payroll deduction of union dues by Act 53.  Further judicial proceedings, and therefore further direction, will be forthcoming.  In the meantime, however, Act 53 should for now be disregarded.  Please contact any of our school law attorneys with any remaining questions.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 at 9:28 am and is filed under School Law.

Governor Snyder recently signed into law an amendment to the Public Employee Relations Act (“PERA”) that prohibits public school districts from collecting union dues or service fees. As you may know, PERA historically prohibited a public employer, as well as an officer or an agent of a public employer, from initiating, creating, dominating, contributing to or interfering with the formation or administration of any labor organization. The new law, Public Act 53 of 2012, amends PERA, to specifically indicate: “A public school employer’s use of public school resources to assist a labor organization in collecting dues or service fees from wages of public school employees is a prohibited contribution to the administration of a labor organization.”

While the new law takes immediate effect, there is a provision that allows a public school employer to continue to collect union dues and service fees pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that was in effect on March 16, 2012, up until that collective bargaining agreement expires, or is terminated, extended or renewed.

For school districts in the process of negotiating an expired contract, the school district should immediately cease collecting dues or service fees under the expired contract. This should be accomplished with the next payroll process following March 16, 2012. The school district should also consider giving the union prior notice of its intent to comply with the law as a matter of common professional courtesy.

Please note the prohibition on collecting union dues will likely be subjected to a legal challenge, especially since it singles out schools as opposed to being applied to all public employers. We’ll keep you posted on the outcome of any such legal challenge.

If you have any questions regarding the effects of this new law, or any other school law issue, please contact one of our school law attorneys.

Michael Bevins
John Lepard
Daniel Martin

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 at 1:53 pm and is filed under School Law. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled in Pontiac School District v Pontiac Education Association that occupational therapists and physical therapists provide instructional support services, and therefore decisions to contract with a third party to provide such OT and/or PT services are not prohibited subjects of bargaining. [Click here to read the complete opinion.] If you would like more clarification regarding this case, or have questions related to any aspect of school law, including special education services or collective bargaining, please contact one of the members of our School Law Group.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 12:49 pm and is filed under School Law. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

The Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services, has issued an Amended Notice of Public Hearing regarding the current draft Monitoring Standards for Special Education.  You may obtain a copy of the Amended Public Notice and Monitoring Standards at the following link: http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-6530_6598-260373–,00.html

 The MDE will be receiving public comment via fax, email or in written form until September 23, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.  This is an amended date.  It is important that  school districts provide comments to the MDE as they devise the standards that school districts will be required to follow. Please be sure to provide your comments by that date.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2011 at 10:39 am and is filed under School Law.

On September 6, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education released the final regulations for Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  The final Part C regulations incorporate the 2004 amendments to Part C of the IDEA, and have been pending since 2007.  These regulations will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.  The US DOE indicates that the regulations will be published in the Federal Register in the next few weeks.  A pre-publication version of the regulations can be accessed on the US DOE’s website for download in either a Word format or pdf format:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/news.html

In addition, the U.S. Department of Education has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) with respect to certain regulations implementing Part B of the IDEA.  Specifically, the Department intends to issue proposed regulations regarding when a state or local educational agency seeks to use a child’s or parent’s public benefits or insurance (e.g., Medicaid) to pay for Part B services.  The NPRM can be accessed on the US DOE’s website through the same link as the Part C regulations.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 12:22 pm and is filed under School Law. Both comments and pings are currently closed.