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March 12, 2004

In public education, no good deed goes unpunished

The Grand Rapids Press reports that Kenowa Hills Public Schools in Michigan is the latest school district to endure a national media uproar. This one is reminiscent of the Great Nashville Honor Roll Ban that BoardBuzz described a few weeks ago.

Barry Bernhardt is a Kenowa middle school teacher and Navy reservist. Superintendent Jim Gillette and Mr. Bernhardt worked out a deal that essentially required Mr. Bernhardt to repay the district for the cost of hiring a substitute teacher during his two-week military assignment. Controversy ensued when teachers and students caught wind of the deal and criticized school officials for their lack of patriotism and leadership.

The local tiff went national when news outlets like the Associated Press, CNN, MSNBC, CBS Radio, and "Good Morning America" all carried reports that suggested to readers and viewers that a teacher was being penalized for serving his country. Entertainer Rush Limbaugh weighed in, entitling his thoughtful analysis of the issue "Blood-Sucking Vampires." As usual, outrage, invective, and profanity crackled across the Web, erupting from blogs and e-mail chatrooms. Hate mail poured in to the district.

And here's what Col. Eugene Raab, Ombudsman of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, had to say of the scandal: "I invite all employers to follow the example that Kenowa Hills School has set."

Huh? Well, it turns out Mr. Bernhardt will get his full teaching salary, which is two and a half times that of his military pay. Federal law only requires that a reservist be allowed to go on unpaid leave and be able to return to his or her civilian job. This week's issue of Legal Clips, NSBA's free weekly school law e-newsletter, notes that a 2003 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that only 61 percent of employers compensate reservists called to active duty. Thirty-four percent just make up the difference between the employee's civilian wages and military pay, while 61 percent continue to provide health insurance to families of reservists. Only 10 percent pay employees their full salaries.

Superintendent Gillette repeatedly explained to the breathless media that Mr. Bernhardt would come out ahead, and the district posted a statement on its Web site laying out the details. But a good story's a good story. Ed Offley, Editor of DefenseWatch, offers the following reflections on the frenzy:

I have a confession: Like every other journalist, I love a good train wreck. I also take a secret pleasure when someone in an office of serious responsibility steps on a rake and meets the handle on his forehead with a loud klong.

In the case of Kenowa Hills School District and Barry Bernhardt, we got neither. Instead, we have a supportive and enlightened employer going above and beyond the requirements of the law to help a teacher and part-time trooper who himself is serving us all.

That's not as much fun as a 10-car derailment. It is a much better story.
BoardBuzz agrees. We'll be watching for this much better story to get some more media play. We'll be watching for more gracious apologies like this one from an online forum that initially railed against the "cowardly civil servants" of the "People's Socialist Republic of Michigan." And we'll be watching for the mass outpouring of righteous indignation against the 90 percent of America's employers that are less generous to their military reservist employees than this public school district.

But we won't be holding our breath.

Posted March 12, 2004 12:00 AM