Non-Christians Preferred? Religious Discrimination In Teachers Union Contract Baffles Michigan


Non-Christians were specifically listed as being given “special consideration” in the Michigan Education Association teachers’ union contract that was created in 2011 and was recently extended to 2017. Now union officials are claiming they never noticed that a major legal violation was slipped into one of their contracts and are claiming it never effected the hiring of any teacher.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, after a teacher was fired for watching and distributing porn at school, the Wisconsin teachers union spent millions to get his job back.

The Ferndale Public School District’s contract with the teachers union was discovered to contain a clause that favored non-Christian teachers in addition to minority groups. This is how it read:

“Should there be two (2) or more of these applicants with equal qualifications for the position and one (1) or more of these applicants with equal qualifications is a current employee, the current employee with the greatest seniority shall be assigned. Special consideration shall be given to women and/or minority defined as: Native American, Asian American, Latino, African American and those of the non-Christian faith. However, in all appointments to vacant positions, the Board’s decision shall be final.”

Some reports claim this contract violates the First Amendment, but that is not accurate since that section refers to the limitations set upon the Federal government:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

But the contract does violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which specifically outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Other reports claim the clause related to non-Christians may have been in the contract for at least 30 years. Ferndale school officials claim they “don’t know why and how it was first placed into the contract” and they claim “it has never, to our knowledge been enacted or cost an applicant a job.” Spokeswoman Shelley Rose claims the phrasing may have been snuck in some time in 1979:

“This language dates back to at least 1979, and is not in compliance with current legislation. Fortunately, the district also has newer and strong anti-discrimination language in the contracts and has never, in our known history, enacted this now out-of-date language.”

Although the Michigan teachers union didn’t have any comment over the non-Christians clause, it’s claimed the contract has already been altered and the illegal section has been removed.

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