An administrative law judge for the Public Employment Relations Board has ruled that Journey Charter School, operating under the oversight of the Capistrano Unified School District, acted illegally when it fired three teachers in the fall of 2004.
Judge Ann L. Weinman found that the charter school operators violated California state laws that protect employees from retaliation for attempting to organize a union.
Paola Schouten, Marlene Nicholas and Stephanie Edwards were represented by CTA attorneys in their challenge to the dismissal. The ruling requires Journey School in San Clemente to pay the three teachers back wages with interest and to offer them reemployment.
Edwards and Schouten had been lead teachers and founders of the school. When the three were fired, none had any history of performance problems. Their dismissals came when they began investigating the possibility of CTA representation as other staff members raised concerns about the school's management, fiscal irregularities and failure to adhere to state law.
Interim administrator Rainbow Rosenbloom tried to discourage the staff from unionizing. After telling Schouten, Nicholas and Edwards that they did not fit in, Journey Board President Bas Mulder ousted them from the school.
"This ruling is a warning to the minority of bad apples among charter school operators and a reassurance for charter employees who want to unionize," says Joe Boyd, one of four CTA staff members working exclusively with charter schools. "CTA is supportive of charter schools done right and with proper oversight. Innovation in education does not mean throwing employee rights out the window."