possibility that the district might at some point
have an unusually high number of students in need of these services. If a
student is in need of special education services, the district should be free
to arrange for him or her to receive them without consulting the union.

The contract sets the lengths of school days and
class periods in high schools.

The contract
establishes specific penalties and procedures for various forms of student
misconduct, and creates a "Uniform Code Review Committee" made up of equal
numbers of union and district representatives. Student discipline is a vital
aspect of educational policy; fairness to students and their parents is best
served when student infractions are investigated and penalties set by the body
that is accountable to the people of Detroit. While school boards should be
encouraged to consult with teachers on theunions are developing a distinct public policy agenda that
ranges well beyond ordinary workplace issues, and PERA has given them their own
unique and powerful tools with which to advance that agenda, to the detriment
of the residents of Michigan.

In theory, the duty to bargain is limited to wages,
hours and other terms or conditions of employment, but that "other" category
remains broad and poorly defined. In practice, any political issue that can be
expressed in terms of employee compensation, job duties or work standards and
included in a collective bargaining agreement is vulnerable to manipulation by
government union negotiators. Since the work of government employees consists
of enforcing laws and implementing the decisions of government officials, the
range in which union officials can use PERA to usurp authority that the state
and federal constitutions leave to the people