Republican lawmakers want to prohibit Colorado teachers from striking, with potential fines and jail
Two Republican state lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking to prohibit Colorado teachers from striking and make it so they would face firing, fines or even jail time if they do so anyway.
Senate Bill 264 was introduced on Friday and comes amid a broader conversation across the state about education funding and educator pay, and as teachers gear up later this week for a second round of demonstrations at the Capitol. Classes have been canceled in a host of Denver metro school districts as a result, including in Jefferson County and in Denver where school officials plan an early release.
The measure’s chances of becoming law are minuscule — with the Democratic-controlled House unlikely to support it and some GOP lawmakers weary themselves — though it has injected another level of debate and controversy into the already simmering issue.
“I started thinking about the bill when I saw the news about teacher strikes in West Virginia,” said Sen. Bob Gardner, a Colorado Springs Republican who is one of the measure’s prime sponsors. “… It’s a wise thing to do, in some shape or form, in the state of Colorado because we have one district that’s already voted to strike. We have others discussing a strike. Strikes are not good for children.”
He called the assertion from some that he is trying to hinder teachers’ free speech rights “absurd,” saying the bill does not take away their right to speak or assemble.
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/23/republican-bill-ban-teacher-protests-colorado/
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