PA Fairness Center Gets Tough on “Official Time” for teachers

Thanks to the Fairness Center teacher union officials will have a more difficult time forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for “ghost” teachers, or official time. The practice allows teacher union officials to perform union business full time while accruing the benefits, including retirement, of a classroom teacher.  And it’s all paid for by the taxpayers, as if these union officials were real teachers.  Check out the story on Pennsylvania Watchdog.

The Reading Education Association has agreed to reimburse the local school district for the costs of “ghost” teachers who worked full time for the union and not in the classroom.

“Since 2011, Reading School District has paid teachers to leave the classroom and work full-time for the local teachers’ union, the Reading Education Association,” Americans for Fair Treatment, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the rights of public employees, said in a news release. “These ghost teachers were paid taxpayer-funded salaries, given public pension credits, and accrued teaching seniority despite working solely for the union.”