Kent County Schools Hire Attorney for Illegal Contract Language Lawsuit

The 10 Kent County school districts that broke state law by including illegal language in their union contracts have announced they hired one attorney to represent all them, according to WOOD-TV.

The districts, which are being sued by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation on behalf of five Kent County taxpayers, included “no-privatization” clauses in their contracts. Michigan law states that privatization of non-core functions, such as food, janitorial or transportation services, is not subject to collective bargaining.

Senior Communications Director Michael Jahr told WOOD-TV that it is good to see the districts do “what they can to minimize costs,” by hiring a single attorney, but noted that the districts could avoid all costs simply by removing the illegal language from their contracts.

Patrick Wright, director of the MCLF, told WTKG-AM1230 in Grand Rapids that while not every service should be privatized, schools should keep the option open.

"We think it's a valuable tool," Wright said.

For more information about the benefits of school privatization, see here.

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