密歇根新闻广播 教师的胜利

教师的胜利

The Michigan Supreme¹ Court ruled unanimously yesterday that the state has to refund² more than half a billion dollars improperly³ taken from the state's teachers.

That has to be an extremely welcome holiday present for Michigan’s beleaguered⁴ teachers, who for years have felt under siege from politicians who have weakened their unions, their pensions, and made them pay more for health care.

This should also be a political gift to the Democrats⁶, who have in recent years become the party of choice for the state’s teachers, especially since Republicans in the legislature often seem to have declared war on teachers as a class.

But instead, it looks like a political win for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who started out being against the teachers, flipped⁷, and yesterday praised the high court for making what he called “the right decision for teachers in this case.”

And as is too often the case, former Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer was nowhere to be seen.

Here’s what happened: Seven years ago, while Democrat⁵ Jennifer Granholm was still governor, the legislature passed a law confiscating⁸ three percent of the salaries of teachers and other school employees, and put it into a fund for their retirement⁹ benefits.

Teachers’ unions immediately sued, arguing that this was a violation¹⁰ of their contracts, and in time, the courts not only agreed that it was a violation, but an unconstitutional breach¹¹ of contract. The state stopped seizing the money after 2012. Now, courts at all levels have long held that when money or property is taken unconstitutionally it has to be restored without delay.

But the Snyder administration refused to give it back, and said that since a new law asking teachers to make voluntary contributions had been enacted¹² in 2012, the state should be able to keep the money seized under the old unconstitutional law.

Bill Schuette even defended that position, and argued on the states’ behalf before the Michigan Court of Appeals. Then, a year and a half ago, the appeals court said in no uncertain terms: Give the money back. Schuette then told Governor Rick Snyder he was on his own. Schuette knew he was going to run for governor, and knew the one thing he didn’t need was a humiliating loss that would make him look anti-teacher.

Snyder should have then accepted the decision and given the money back. But instead, he spent hundreds of thousands of the state’s money on outside counsel, only to lose unanimously in the Supreme Court, many of whose members he’d appointed.

Sure enough, once the decision was announced, a spokesperson for Schuette was saying “this Granholm-era money grab is now over,” and that he “strongly agrees the Michigan Supreme Court made the right decision for teachers.”

Never mind that the unconstitutional law was passed by a Republican state senate, or that Schuette himself defended it for a long time. Strategically, this was brilliant.

But what is baffling is – where is Gretchen Whitmer, who has been a defender¹³ of teachers for years? Politically, she should have been out there proclaiming before the decision that this was wrong and the money needed to be returned. But I have seen no mention of her in any news story on the ruling. If this doesn’t worry senior Democratic strategists, I’d be surprised.

Jack¹⁴ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio’s Senior Political Analyst¹⁵. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following publication of this essay, we were contacted by the Whitmer campaign. The campaign took issue with Jack's characterization of Gretchen Whitmer being "nowhere to be seen" following the ruling. The campaign interpreted that to mean "nowhere on the issue." While Jack does state that Whitmer "has been a defender of teachers for years" - the campaign believes Jack has misrepresented her position since Whitmer voted against the legislation, and in the past urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the teachers.

Jack's point, however, was that Whitmer missed an opportunity to remind voters of that herself after the ruling. Instead, it was her opponent, Bill Schuette, an Attorney General who fought against this outcome in the past, who stole the limelight for the day.

Whitmer did release a statement yesterday following the ruling. It is below in its entirety.

"This is a win for the hardworking women and men who dedicate their lives to preparing our kids to succeed," said Whitmer. "Once again, Michiganders have proven that when we show up for one another's fights, we can't be ignored. Our educators need someone who is in their corner fighting for them. I’m proud to have stood with educators when they demanded their 3% be returned, and I’ll continue working with anyone who wants to repair Michigan’s broken education system.”

Jack's point in the essay, is that because of Whitmer's long support of educators, she missed an easy opportunity to take a very public victory lap after this ruling. She did not, and Schuette rose to fill the vacuum.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

3 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

4 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

8 confiscating   

没收（confiscate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was Mame by my side confiscating my intellects and attention. 有玛米坐在我身边，害得我心不在焉。
• Intimidate book sellers by confiscating books deemed unfavourable to the Barisan government. 充公被视为对国阵不利的书籍，威胁书商。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

14 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。