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September 29, 2006

Schwarzenegger vs. the union

The Governator eked out a victory against the California Teachers Association:

In a rare defeat for teachers' unions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday to make it easier for some principals to reject incompetent teachers.

The new law won't make it easier to fire public school teachers — something the governor sought and failed to win with an initiative last November — but it eliminates one escape route for teachers facing bad reviews.

SB 1655 by Sen. Jack Scott (D-Altadena) restricts future union contracts so that principals at the lowest-performing schools no longer have to give jobs to weak teachers transferring within the district. The measure will affect about 3,000 schools.

It's not a big deal overall, but in California, where the CTA generally does what it wants--and given the fact that this was sponsored by a Democrat--it shows there are limits to the union's clout.  This also seems to illustrate that that Schwarzenegger can still play hardball with the CTA, even in the wake of his failed battle from last year. 

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