In a blatant attempt to decapitate the Hartford Federation of Teachers (HFT), Superintendent Stephen Adamowski has hired a law firm to enforce a “use tax” upon union leadership, according to HFT officials.  Because HFT president, first vice president and second vice president are on what’s called detached duty, sources inside union leadership say that the law firm, Shipman and Goodwin, maintain that the union must pay a tax for the detached duty, the services provided by the leadership.  To date, neither the Board of Education nor its legal representation has provided  evidence to support this claim.  Adding to the assault, the Board of Ed. sent HFT leadership a letter stating that as of August 24 its detached duty will be considered unauthorized, unpaid leave.   This change would cause the three officers of HFT to lose their rights to contribute to their individual State Teachers Retirement accounts and lose their health insurance benefits.  Read the full story