Larkin teachers forced to shed T-shirts protesting superintendent's raise
About 20 Larkin (Elgin, IL) High School teachers Friday wore T-shirts to school protesting the board's tentative decision to give Elgin Area School District U-46 Superintendent Connie Neale a raise and bonus.
The T-shirts read, "My superintendent got a $40,000 raise and all I got was ... this lousy T-shirt."
District administrators warned the teachers they would be charged with insubordination and suspended without pay if they did not remove the shirts, Elgin Teachers Association President Tim Davis said Monday.
The teachers then either removed the shirts or turned them inside out.
Larkin Principal Rich Webb, under direction from central administration officials, told the teachers they were behaving unprofessionally and disrupting the learning environment by mounting a personal attack against Neale.
The administration officials were acting on advice from their lawyers, who advised them they could discipline teachers who refused to remove the T-shirts.
Webb, U-46 Communications Director Kris Houser and U-46 attorney Pat Broncato did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday.
Lawyers from Franczek Sullivan, the district's principal law firm, however, said Monday they had concluded that teachers' First Amendment rights are limited in an elementary or secondary school setting.
"When that speech is not curriculum-related, and especially where you have impressionable students, you can curtail certain speech rights," said Patricia Whitten of Franczek Sullivan. Constitutional law experts agreed the district had a right to ask the teachers to remove the shirts, citing precedents that say governments can regulate the speech of employees if that speech threatens to disrupt their job.
"I'd say this fits," said Northwestern University constitutional law professor Martin Redish. "A protest of their superior's actions in front of students could easily be characterized as disruptive." Davis disputed the district's interpretation of the incident, saying he wouldn't characterize the T-shirts as unprofessional or a personal attack against Neale.
"It's an indication to me that people are concerned about how the district is using its resources," Davis said.
Neale's contract has been scrutinized since last month, when school board member Dan Rich resigned in protest of the board's tentative decision to give Neale a $20,000 raise and 10 percent, tax-free bonus, bringing her total pay and benefits package to about $420,000 this year.
Teachers said they used the T-shirts as a learning tool to spark discussion.
Davis agreed the T-shirts didn't necessarily disrupt the learning environment. "The way it was worded, it might have drawn some attention, but I don't think it would grind learning to a halt."
Article by Emily Krone, Daily Herald Staff Writer
About 20 Larkin (Elgin, IL) High School teachers Friday wore T-shirts to school protesting the board's tentative decision to give Elgin Area School District U-46 Superintendent Connie Neale a raise and bonus.
The T-shirts read, "My superintendent got a $40,000 raise and all I got was ... this lousy T-shirt."
District administrators warned the teachers they would be charged with insubordination and suspended without pay if they did not remove the shirts, Elgin Teachers Association President Tim Davis said Monday.
The teachers then either removed the shirts or turned them inside out.
Larkin Principal Rich Webb, under direction from central administration officials, told the teachers they were behaving unprofessionally and disrupting the learning environment by mounting a personal attack against Neale.
The administration officials were acting on advice from their lawyers, who advised them they could discipline teachers who refused to remove the T-shirts.
Webb, U-46 Communications Director Kris Houser and U-46 attorney Pat Broncato did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday.
Lawyers from Franczek Sullivan, the district's principal law firm, however, said Monday they had concluded that teachers' First Amendment rights are limited in an elementary or secondary school setting.
"When that speech is not curriculum-related, and especially where you have impressionable students, you can curtail certain speech rights," said Patricia Whitten of Franczek Sullivan. Constitutional law experts agreed the district had a right to ask the teachers to remove the shirts, citing precedents that say governments can regulate the speech of employees if that speech threatens to disrupt their job.
"I'd say this fits," said Northwestern University constitutional law professor Martin Redish. "A protest of their superior's actions in front of students could easily be characterized as disruptive." Davis disputed the district's interpretation of the incident, saying he wouldn't characterize the T-shirts as unprofessional or a personal attack against Neale.
"It's an indication to me that people are concerned about how the district is using its resources," Davis said.
Neale's contract has been scrutinized since last month, when school board member Dan Rich resigned in protest of the board's tentative decision to give Neale a $20,000 raise and 10 percent, tax-free bonus, bringing her total pay and benefits package to about $420,000 this year.
Teachers said they used the T-shirts as a learning tool to spark discussion.
Davis agreed the T-shirts didn't necessarily disrupt the learning environment. "The way it was worded, it might have drawn some attention, but I don't think it would grind learning to a halt."
Article by Emily Krone, Daily Herald Staff Writer
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