Tennessee Republicans take first swipe at teachers union

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Republican lawmakers have pushed ahead
of Gov. Bill Haslam in the race to shape the
state's agenda on education and provoked
a confrontation with Tennessee's biggest
teachers union.

The state Senate took the first step
Wednesday toward rewriting Tennessee's
education laws this year, when a committee
voted to reverse a 1978 law that gave
teachers the right to bargain collectively
through a union.

The bill is one of several proposals being
promoted in the legislature that would
reduce the power of the 52,000-member
Tennessee Education Association. They are
being pursued without the backing of
Haslam, who has been working for the past
several weeks on education reforms of his
own.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110217/NEWS02/102170350/Tennessee-Republicans-take-first-swipe-teachers-union-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE