Idaho Freedom Foundation President Wayne Hoffman announced a legal challenge to the Boise Independent School District’s deal to spend taxpayer dollars to fund a union boss and union business.
“We believe this is an egregious misuse of taxpayer money,” Hoffman said Thursday. “This is an abuse of our education system. It’s an affront to taxpayers and students.”
The legal challenge, issued in Boise on behalf of taxpayers and Freedom Foundation supporter Jim Auld, seeks to end a cozy relationship between the school district and the Boise teachers union. The district’s 2015-2016 master contract contains a special provision that takes dollars out of classrooms to fund a union president position.
Additionally, the contract gives union representatives paid leave to attend to union business.
“This special deal not only costs taxpayers, but it denies schoolchildren access to the resources they need for their classrooms,” Hoffman said. “Instead of spending money on books, computers and supplies, taxpayer dollars are being diverted to the teachers union.”
The challenge focuses on Article VIII Section 4 of the Idaho Constitution, which blocks governments from using their resources to aid private associations.
“In this diversion of taxpayer dollars, the union benefits at the expense of schoolchildren,” Hoffman said “We believe tax money should go to support schoolchildren, not union bosses.”