The Taylor Law, with its Triburough Amendment, combined with our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA aka our Teachers' Contract) serve to protect us from capricious acts by politicians, management, and even at times, our colleagues. There is no "protecting the person" in any unsavory situation - these documents allow our union leadership to PROTECT THE PROCESS for any teacher - "good" or "bad."
I sincerely hope that in these difficult economic times that we can agree to disagree at times and don't turn to canabalize each other out of frustration. Additionally, we should recognize the quality if not the quantity of effort and time the WTA Leadership engages for us, "THE TEACHERS," so that we may have the luxury to focus our efforts on doing just that: TEACH.