INDIANAPOLIS —The state's largest teachers' union says it is suing to block a new set of teacher contract forms.
The forms, which all teachers would have to sign headed into the 2011-2012 school year, would allow school corporations to add or subtract from the number of hours or days teachers are required to work over the course of the year.
They were made possible by a measure the Indiana General Assembly approved this year, which restricts teachers' collective bargaining rights to wages and benefits, and nothing else.
Still, the Indiana State Teachers Association says those forms, added to the top of teachers' local contracts, would violate state law as well as already negotiated collective bargaining agreements.
The forms were sent to Indiana superintendents on Friday, and the ISTA said it filed a lawsuit in Marion County court to ask a judge to block them from being used this year on Tuesday.
"It really comes down to a respect issue," said Teresa Meredith, the ISTA's vice president and a teacher in Shelbyville. "There are certain things we can't bargain, but we know the hours are discussable."
She said that while the new forms allow school districts to change teachers' hours and days, she expects that most administrators would not do so in the middle of a school year.
Nate Schnellenberger, the president of ISTA, said the Indiana Department of Education is operating under a policy of "proceed until apprehended."
The department is overseen by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, who along with Gov. Mitch Daniels championed the new teacher collective bargaining restrictions as part of a broad education overhaul.
"If they are filing suit against us, they haven't bothered to tell us yet; we have not been served. If and when we are, we will review and offer response," said Stephanie Sample, a state Department of Education spokeswoman, in an email.
Later, she added: "Our law is right. We stand by it. It gives school leaders the flexibility they need to drive dramatic improvement."
This lawsuit comes in addition to one filed July 1 by the ISTA. That lawsuit seeks to block the state from implementing its new voucher program, which would allow parents to spend public dollars to pay for private school tuition.