Education Law

Too Predictable - NYC Teacher Politics Ruling

Ahh, sometimes the game is so predictable it is annoying. The NYC teacher's union political buttons case was one of those utterly predictable cases. Here was my prediction on where NYC teachers could engage in political activities.

So, I like the bulletin board case and don't like the campaign button case as much.

Friday, a federal judge in NY ruled: Yes to bulletin boards ... no to campaign buttons.

Shockingly predictable, no? Well, that's the point. This case was a political statement by the union, nothing more. It generated a lot of talk in the blogosphere and some news stories and showed the Obama Campaign how dedicated they were to his administration. As a lobbying campaign, it was fairly well done, actully. Don't believe me? Here is part of Randi Weingarten's statement in response to the case: 

Given that the overall decision preserves our members' legal rights, we will wait until after Election Day to decide whether to pursue the matter further.

Sort of disappointing. I am not a real fan of using the court system for political stunts and that seems to be what happened here. 

Here is more on the case. And Mark Walsh.

H/t Scott McLeod P/C: UCA NYC C6261a

Full post as published by Edjurist on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).