A bill to punish public school teachers for striking while on the job, gets its first hearing in front of a senate committee Monday afternoon.
If the bill passes, it would require a public school employer to seek an injunction from a district court if a strike happened, or the possibility of a strike.
The bill says if a public school teacher organization fails to comply with an injunction, they could be held in contempt of court and punished with fines or up to 6 months in county jail, or both.
Additionally, if a public school teacher is found in contempt of court- then the teacher would be terminated from their job.
Penalties may be suspended or modified by the court if the public school employer so requests, and the court finds it is in the public interest to do so.
The bill is sponsored by El Paso County politicians Sen. Bob Gardner (R-Colorado Springs) and Rep. Paul Lundeen (R-Monument). Gardner says it’s already against the law for state employees to strike, so his bill just adds on to that.
