Judge tosses teacher contract forms
The Associated Press September 25, 2012 3:26PM
Updated: October 27, 2012 6:17AM
INDIANAPOLIS — A county judge has ruled that a state-pushed standard teacher contract form that would have allowed Indiana school districts to change or increase their hours without paying them more is illegal.
Marion County Judge Patrick McCarty permanently barred the Indiana Department of Education and state Superintendent Tony Bennett from using the standard forms, which all school districts would have been required to use. He said the department doesn’t have any legal authority to unilaterally contradict existing contract law.
“The regular teacher’s contract form drafted by Dr. Bennett is unconscionable in that it gives school corporations the authority to unilaterally modify the number of days and hours that a teacher must work, but it does not require the school corporation to pay for the additional labor or any other additional consideration,” McCarty wrote.
A spokesman for the state education department said Tuesday the purpose of the teacher contract form was to provide school districts with “flexibility.”
