JCTA challenges board ruling

The contract dispute isn’t over. It’s just moved to a new arena.
The Jay Classroom Teachers Association has filed suit against Jay Schools and the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board seeking to have the IEERB’s ruling in favor of the school corporation overturned.
The JCTA’s lawsuit, filed Friday in Marion County Superior Court, contends the IEERB’s ruling was arbitrary, beyond the board’s authority and not supported by the evidence.
A legal challenge to the IEERB’s January ruling in favor of Jay Schools was not unexpected, since the Jay County contract dispute was among a handful to come before the IEERB after changes in state law.
School corporations around the state and the Indiana State Teachers Association are concerned about precedents that might be set in the new legal climate.
The suit, filed by Indianapolis attorney Eric Hylton of Riley Bennett and Egolff, reiterates a number of arguments made by the JCTA in hearings before a fact-finder and the IEERB.
In its lawsuit, the union argues:
•That the IEERB’s order should be void because it does not reflect the final action taken at the IEERB’s public meeting and is therefore in violation of the Indiana Open Door Law. The board’s order “goes way beyond the final action taken at the public meeting and makes dozens of findings of fact … that were not raised and decided at the public board meeting,” the suit contends.
•That the IEERB erred by not requiring the Jay Schools last best offer to be based upon the school budget as certified by the Indiana Department of Education. During the fact-finding hearing, attorneys for the JCTA argued that allowing the school corporation to use budget projections that had not been certified by the DOE created a “moving target” when it came to assessing a contract proposal’s impact on school finances.
•That because the Jay Schools last best offer did not contain a “salary schedule” it was in violation of Indiana law and should have been rejected by the IEERB.
•That the IEERB was incorrect in allowing a provision in the Jay Schools last best offer that gives the school corporation “sole authority” to place a teacher hired after the start of the 2013-14 school year on any line of the salary schedule as determined by the superintendent. “By forcing a contract provision on the association that takes away the association’s right to bargain salaries of newly hired teachers, IEERB’s order violates Indiana law,” the suit contends.
•That the IEERB also erred by including provisions for job sharing that should be bargainable items.
Jay Schools and the teachers’ union reached an impasse in their negotiations, and the IEERB appointed a fact-finder to review the dispute. The fact-finder reviewed the final contract proposals from both the teachers and the school corporation at a hearing on Nov. 5, and the fact-finder selected the Jay Schools “last best offer” on Nov. 12. JCTA appealed that decision to the IEERB on Dec. 11, and oral arguments were heard on Jan. 2. On Jan. 10, the IEERB issued its ruling in favor of Jay Schools. The lawsuit was filed in Marion County because that’s where the IEERB is located.[[In-content Ad]]