FOIA Friday: Court ruling shields public school records

• A recent Oakland County Circuit Court ruling threatens to keep from public view another type of record — those kept by public school teachers.

Catch up fast: Judge Jacob James Cunningham dismissed a FOIA lawsuit in December that sought teacher lesson plans, assignments and other records related to a class at Rochester High School, History of Ethnic and Gender Studies.

What they're saying: Cunningham's ruling made a distinction between records kept by a public body and its employees.

• "Since the court finds public school district teachers are not 'public bodies,' therefore their papers and work product are not 'public records' under FOIA," the judge wrote.

The other side: Records generated and kept by public employees doing their job should be public, Stephen Delie, a Mackinac Center Legal Foundation lawyer for the plaintiff, tells Axios.

• Delie fears the ruling could be used to shield records of police officers and other public workers.

What's next: Cunningham's ruling has been appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals.