Message of the Day

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS FROM LAWSUIT ABUSE

CSE has attended over 150 presidential campaign events in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina. Our staff and activists have directly asked the candidates more than 200 questions. We know voters are passionate about the need to end lawsuit abuse and have appreciated the willingness of candidates to answer specific questions.

Lawsuit abuse is not just about trial lawyers getting rich, although that is certainly happening. In Texas, 5 trial lawyers received an astonishing $3.3 billion for their work on the Tobacco lawsuit.

Lawsuit abuse is robbing honest Americans of our money, trust, freedom and peace of mind. And, more and more often, it is robbing decent teachers of their ability to instill discipline in the classroom. Principals are forced to pay huge liability premiums and destroy staples of a school’s character, like the playground, just to avoid lawsuits.

According to the Association of Texas Professional Educators, teachers fear lawsuits more than being fired. According to the 1999 survey of the membership, an astonishing 63 percent of teachers fear being sued.

“Whenever we plan for anything in a school today, our first consideration is how to avoid a lawsuit,” says Vincent Ferradino, executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals.”

Before Saturday’s primary, the candidates should answer the following questions:

“Gov. Bush you are a compassionate conservative and you are a reformer with real results in both education and the civil justice system. Why isn’t the first the first thing the American people think of when the they of George W Bush is that he is the one candidate with a plan to save our schools from trial lawyer lawsuit abuse? Teachers need to know you are on their side and parents need to know you are on their side.”

“Senator McCain you have talked a great deal about taking on the trial lawyers and saving our schools. Governor Bush has a specific proposal to remove the fear of lawsuits from teachers. Do you support the Teacher Protection Act, which shield teachers, principals and school board members from meritless federal lawsuits.