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Kids (literally) carrying union water?

A teacher’s union is suing the school district for the right to send their newsletter home with students:

The complaint comes after the district denied a request from the union, the Park Ridge Education Association (PREA), to include its newsletter, "Teacher Talk," along with the "take-home" packet given to students every other Thursday. District representatives said that, according to district policy, the newsletter is not appropriate material for the packet.

The PREA, a branch of the Illinois Education Association, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court Feb. 13. The suit claims the school district has denied the union’s rights to free speech and equal protection under both the U.S. and Illinois constitutions. The PREA also filed a complaint with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, said PREA President Fred Klonsky.

The newsletter in question is here.  The union’s reaction is a bit lacking, though:

School policy limits material sent home in the packet to notes from teachers and information about school-related activities and organized student groups. It excludes items of a political or sectarian nature and solicitations from for-profit groups, non-school related organizations and organizations not within the district boundaries.

The PREA maintains that "Teacher Talk" is not political in nature, Klonsky said. "It is not an explicitly pro-union newsletter," he said. "…It’s not a propaganda piece." 

Not a propaganda piece?  Then explain the next paragraph:

Klonsky said the newsletter was started after the 2003 teacher strikes in order to "ease the tension in the community" and "let the community know more about the good works the teachers are doing in both the classroom and in extracurricular activities." It includes stories about classroom activities and district initiatives, and one recent issue included some facts about the union’s purpose and teacher population.

In other words, the newsletter was intended to rehabilitate and maintain the union’s image.  Sounds like propaganda to us. 

Having read the newsletter, we tend to agree that it’s really apolitical.  In all likelihood, the union should probably be allowed to send the newsletter home with the kids, or the district should be required to clarify its policy on things like this.  But to say that a union publication is neutral is like saying this blog doesn’t take a position on vouchers.