<\/p>\n
Detroit, MI (January 28, 2010)<\/b> \u2013 With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a citizen activist announced today he will file an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court in an ongoing public disclosure battle over the use of school district e-mail systems for union political activities.<\/p>\n
In 2007, political activist Chetly Zarko from DeWitt \u2013 invoking Michigan\u2019s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure law \u2013 requested e-mail communications among Howell Education Association (HEA) union brass regarding heated bargaining negotiations between the Howell Public School (HPS) system and union officials. The HEA union is a local affiliate of the Michigan Education Association and National Education Association unions.<\/p>\n
At the time of the collective bargaining conflict, Zarko suspected union boss lobbying was occurring at taxpayer expense. Zarko is seeking the release of approximately 5,500 e-mails between the union hierarchy and teachers.<\/p>\n
HEA union officials claimed a special exception from the requirements of Michigan\u2019s FOIA law, despite the fact that the e-mails were sent over a taxpayer funded e-mail system and the HPS\u2019s \u201cAcceptable Use Policy\u201d explicitly states that e-mails sent on the server are \u201cnot consider private communication [and] may be re-posted.\u201d <\/p>\n
Foundation attorneys won a ruling from the Livingston Circuit Court requiring disclosure, but union lawyers managed to convince the State of Michigan Court of Appeals to overturn the lower court\u2019s decision. <\/p>\n
\u201cPublic resources should not be spent on the shadowy and self-serving political activities of union bosses,\u201d said Patrick Semmens, Legal Information Director of the National Right to Work Foundation. \u201cHowell Education Association union officials should be subject to the same public disclosure requirements as everyone else who uses taxpayer funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Detroit, MI (January 28, 2010)<\/b> \u2013 With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a citizen activist announced today he will file an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court in an ongoing public disclosure battle over the use of school district e-mail systems for union political activities.<\/p>\n
In 2007, political activist Chetly Zarko from DeWitt \u2013 invoking Michigan\u2019s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure law \u2013 requested e-mail communications among Howell Education Association (HEA) union brass regarding heated bargaining negotiations between the Howell Public School (HPS) system and union officials. The HEA union is a local affiliate of the Michigan Education Association and National Education Association unions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[888],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n