Pubdate: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2005 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.heraldtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) WHEN A TEACHER'S FIRING IS A SLAM DUNK, THE FREE MONEY SHOULD STOP Normally, Sarasota teachers union executive director Barry Dubin wishes every teacher would join his organization. But when he checked a few days ago and found that Venice High math teacher Michael Ziemian was among the 20 percent of the Sarasota County school system's teachers who are not union members, Dubin was more than fine with that. Ziemian is the teacher who admitted to sharing his homegrown marijuana with two of his students at his home. Ziemian had told the two girls they would have to come to his house to get materials for a class assignment they had missed. When they arrived, the girls later reported, he served them vodka tonics, showed off the marijuana plants he was growing in the garage and then started smoking pot in a glass bong and suggested they try it. They did. When a school resource officer talked to Ziemian, he confirmed the story. He took cops to his home and showed them his garage, the growing equipment and the pot. He was arrested, but posted bail and is back at home. So, of course, though barred from the school and sure to be fired, that teacher is still collecting a paycheck. He will for as long as the firing process takes, and no one knows how long that will be. It could be over as soon as April 19, the day of the next School Board meeting, but don't count on it. With even the slightest protest from Ziemian, he can collect his salary through the end of the school year. All he has to do is file a grievance claiming that firing is too extreme. Yes, that would be absurd. Dubin says that if the facts reported are accurate, including the confession, he can't imagine making such a claim for a union member in such a spot. "I couldn't make that argument with a straight face," Dubin says. But no straight face is required. Filing paperwork is enough. It starts a series of grievance hearings, first with the principal, then a human resources officer, then the superintendent. And then the teacher can request arbitration. "Arbitration can take six to eight weeks just to schedule," says Scott Lempe, the school system's human resources director. Teacher contracts, developed through the collective bargaining process with the union, offer no way to short-cut that, even in clear-cut cases. In this case, at least the pot-sharing teacher is on a one-year contract and has not established tenure. He won't be paid after the end of the school year. But wouldn't it be more sane if the School Board insisted that that all teacher contracts make an exception for flagrant situations where evidence and circumstances are such that firing is a slam dunk no-brainer? Shouldn't the School Board be able to make a judgment to stop paychecks in such a case? The grievance procedure could continue. Back pay and a penalty could be paid if arbitration determined the move unjustified. But there would be no incentive to make silly claims just to get more free money from taxpayers while the system goes through the motions. Lempe likes the idea. He told me I was preaching to the choir with him. And even Dubin admitted Friday that it might makes sense, in theory. It would be tough to write such a clause into the contract in a way Dubin and the union would accept it, no doubt. But all teachers should be able to see that their union's image only gets better if they make it clear they aren't out to force taxpayers to pay a teacher gone bad who sits at home for months awaiting the obviously inevitable day when the axe will fall. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager