The UNO charter chain has been in the news lately and not for good reason.
Its number two official resigned amid accusations that he steered contracts worth millions to relatives–his own plus relatives of lobbyists who managed to help UNO get a $98 million state appropriation for three new buildings.
Now UNO is in the news again.
It has decided that it will allow its teachers at its 13 charters to join a union, if they want to.
Here is the funny line in the article:
“Typically, privately run charters hire non-union teachers, which supporters say allows them to be more innovative and successful.”
Have you noticed how innovative and successful the schools are in the states than ban collective bargaining? You know, like the Deep South, and now the Midwest?
Some states have never had unions, but they don’t seem to be the most successful or innovative.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Great article on the facts of unions and reform.
http://www.alternet.org/education/teachers-make-handy-scapegoats-spiraling-inequality-really-what-ails-our-education-system
Most of the comments on the linked article are so depressing. People think that unions are the ones who are corrupt. Like non-unionized UNO is just as pure as the new-fallen snow.
My wife is a teacher, and she joined her local teacher’s union for one primary reason. In the event that she was sued by a parent, the union would help with her legal bills. Are the parents who go to charter required to sign a release? Or do charters and groups like TFA, simply not tell prospective teachers that there is a chance you will be sued and you’re on your own? In today’s litigious society it is not unreasonable to believe that you may be sued with a claim that is ultimately proven to be false, if not thrown out for being baseless. That doesn’t mean that you don’t need to hire an attorney and spend multiple of your annual salary to defend yourself.
From the beginning, many charter laws have allowed teachers to form a union if they want to do so. The New York City Teacher’s Union was the prime mover in creating a charter in that city. The Minneapolis Teachers Union recently became the first local teacher’s union to apply for, and receive permission to establish an affiliated organization that will serve as an authorizer of charter schools.
Opinions about unions vary among people involved in public education – whether district or charter. Many of us have seen examples of outstanding union leadership, and sadly also, examples of corruption. It’s not one or the other, it’s both.
The same can be same for district & charter leaders.
With the exception that districts schools are public schools, and charters are not; they are private entities that receive public dollars, as a recent ruling by the NLRB on charter teachers unionizing made clear.
Michael, please send information about the NLRB ruling that you mention. Every one of state laws that created charters made them public schools. Any info you can share about the NLRB ruling would be useful. Thanks.
Joe Nathan, a charter in Philly went to NLRB and won a ruling that it is private, not public, and thus not covered by state labor law.
Charters ruled private for labor relations:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/04/charter-school-ruled-private-entity-for-labor-relations/
Charter union dissolved by NLRB:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130218/rogers-park/chicago-math-science-academy-union-regroups-after-ruling
We re looking for the IL atty general or the CPS inspector general at least to look into the UNO steering contracts to relatives of officers. But so far, silence.
Dr. Ravich: Living and working in the unsuccessful and innovative-lacking schools of the deep south, I have a few quesitons for you.
First, how did you determine that schools in the deep south are unsuccessful? Use of NAEP scores or other standardized test scores for which you do not think schools should be judged by?
Secondly, how did you determine that schools in the deep south lack innovation – because of their test scores?
Thirdly, does the effect of poverty on school performance only apply to the north?
I think if you compare performance (test scores) across this nation that basically they correlate to poverty rates. The highest poverty rates are also in the deep south.
I am a supporter of your website and ideas but just asking for fairness and consistency.
seabee, your questions puzzle me. The most reliable predictor of low test scores is family poverty. That is true on every standardized test, whether the SAT, the ACT, state tests, NAEP or international tests. It is true in the South and true in the North. Also the East and the West.
Thank you. M Schneider and Dr. Ravitch. Several of us are looking into these decisions. State laws are clear that charters are public schools. We need to review these decisions.
Joe Nathan, in this blog you will find the citations for the federal court ruling and the NLRB ruling that charter schools are private organizations. The charters sought these rulings. They wanted to be declared private so they were not covered by state laws like public schools. The charters asked the federal courts and the NLRB to declare them private. If that is what they want, so be it.
There apparently are different interpretations of what the NLRB ruled. I am talking with people around the country. When I have more information I will post it.
Joe,
If you read the NLRB ruling, it is clear. The charter school asked to be declared private, not public. The NLRB agreed.
Diane
There are people who disagree with your interpretation of what NLRB decided. But I am going to hold off further comment until I have more definitive information.
Legislators in more than 40 states have created charters as part of the public school system for their state. You’ve made your disagreements clear, but those are state laws.
Meanwhile, people much more knowledgeable than me are looking at the cases that you have cited. Thank you for pointing them out.
Sorry it took a while to review this with several others, including an attorney. The decision affirms that charters are public schools, while finding that they are subject to national NLRB regulations.
In two different places, the NLRB ruling refers to charters as public schools. It’s valuable to read the entire decision. In literally the first sentence of the opinion, the NLRB refers to the school as public:
“The issue in this case is whether a private, nonprofit corporation that established and operates a public charter school in Chicago, Illinois, is exempt from our jurisdiction because assertedly it is a political subdivision of the State of Illinois within the meaning of Section 2 (2) of the National Labor Relations Act.” (p. 1) ”
“In this regard, then, charter school operators arguably are akin to government contractors in that they are operating ‘public schools’ for the State of Illinois.” (p. 7)
The decision affirms that charters are public, while finding that they are subject to national NLRB regulations.
Unions are allowed to organize. NLRB affirmed that the group which created the school must allow teachers to vote in a secret election to determine whether they want to join the union. I think teachers in a charter should have that right, and I’m glad NLRB agrees.
If the metric of the moment is standardized test results, which i abhore, but let’s set that aside, the reformers’ chosen metric would certainly appear to disprove the notion of greater ‘flexibility and innovation’. Fight fire with fire. They want to use the idiotic tests to prover their case, but clearly it does not work. Maybe, just maybe, if we keep pointing it out, they will finally see the light and wake up.
Additionally, ‘right to work’ states have lower mean salaries in most fields of work when compared to ‘union’ states. The e3xistence of unions typically has the effect of improving working conditions (including compensation) of workers in union and non-union shops alike.
Seabee, I completely agree on the issue of poverty, but remember, that issue has been declared off-limits by reform groups. They consider it an ‘excuse’ for low expectations/lazy teachers, and those who raise it are branded anti-reform ‘defenders of the status quo’.
According to federal labor law, UNO isn’t in a position to “disallow” teachers to organize. UNO has no say in the matter. Suck on that Juan.