Tennessee Education Association files lawsuit that could delay teacher raises

The Tennessee Education Association (TEA) filed a legal challenge this week that could delay recently passed teacher raises.The TEA’s lawsuit challenges a provision of the “Teacher Paycheck Protection Act” Governor Lee signed last month.  The legislation is set to raise the minimum teacher salary to $42,000 in July, but the TEA is objecting to a section that also prevents unions like it from deducting dues from teacher paychecks.“Sliding a payroll dues deduction ban in a bill to raise the minimum pay was a cynical attack on Tennessee teachers. The ban was mean-spirited, and the way it passed was unconstitutional,” said TEA President Tanya Coats. “We filed this suit to protect the rights of our members and highlight the missteps made by the administration when they pushed this attack on teachers. We look forward to our day in court.”The legislation doesn’t have a severability clause that guarantees teacher raises remain if another section of the act is challenged.That means it could be up to the Chancery Court Chancellor to decide whether the TEA’s challenge impacts when teachers get their raises. It’s possible the chancellor could decide to put a stay on the enactment of the entire law itself, including raises, while the legal process plays out.Governor Lee has maintained that the dues provision is a key part of the bill to protect both teachers and taxpayers because it ensures union dues aren’t automatically deducted from teacher paychecks.“Teaching is more than just a career - it’s a calling,” said Gov. Lee after signing the legislation. “The Teacher Paycheck Protection Act provides the largest salary increase in Tennessee history and ensures union dues are no longer collected by school districts, giving teachers control of their own hard-earned paycheck. I thank the General Assembly for their continued partnership to support Tennessee teachers and ensure taxpayer dollars are used to educate students, not fund politics.”An estimated 46,000 teachers used the automatic deduction process to pay their TEA dues this year and the union has faced criticism for how it uses that money.The TEA argues the “dues provision” ban violates the Tennessee Constitution and is asking the court for a permanent injunction on it.The union claims the provision violates the single-subject requirement of the state constitution and the language of the act failed to disclose that it amends the state’s Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act.