Caught stealing from your union? You might find that your best friend is . . . your union. Wayne Kruse, former president of the Lawrence Education Association, was charged with stealing $97,000 in dues from the Kansas NEA. Naturally, the Lawrence school board tried to fire him, but because of protections guaranteed in his NEA-negotiated contract, he would have been eligible to appeal his dismissal and tie the board up in costly litigation. As a compromise, Kruse offered not to go to court if the board agreed to pay him through June 2005. The board, of course, yielded. You have to admire the brazenness of it all, and the irony. Of course, if the board had really wanted to get back at the NEA, maybe they should have let Kruse continue to head the local union.
"Kruse offers resignation to district," by Dave Ranney, Lawrence Journal World, March 29, 2005
"Cruel irony in Kansas," Education Intelligence Agency, April 4, 2005