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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Michigan Emergency Manager Robert Bobb Issues Layoff Notice to All Detroit Public School Teachers - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Michigan Emergency Manager Robert Bobb Issues Layoff Notice to All Detroit Public School Teachers - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Michigan Emergency Manager Robert Bobb Issues Layoff Notice to All Detroit Public School Teachers

We’ve discussed Rick Snyder’s “Emergency Financial Manager” bill in this space previously. Now it’s time to take a look at what happens when a law like this is put into practice. In Detroit, a city that has faced decline now for several decades, Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb has issued a layoff notice to all 5,466 public school teachers.

Bobb has said he will take advantage of the new Financial Martial Law known as Public Act 4 to “unilaterally modify” the district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Federation of Teachers. According to Reuters:

Under a law known as Public Act 4, passed by the Michigan legislature and signed by the state’s new Republican governor in March, emergency managers like Bobb have sweeping powers. They can tear up existing union contracts, and even fire some elected officials, if they believe it will help