National Charter School Week is May 3-9. The teachers at Olney Charter High School voted to form a union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. That is a nice way to celebrate and to make sure that teachers have good working conditions. According to the AFT press release, this is the 120th charter school to go union. Only 5,880 to go.
Olney Charter Teachers Vote Overwhelmingly to Join Teachers Union
Teachers Cite Need for a Voice to Advocate for Students and Their Profession at
Philadelphia High School that’s Part of National ASPIRA Charter Chain
PHILADELPHIA—Last night, teachers and support staff at Olney Charter High School in Philadelphia voted overwhelmingly to form a union. They voted by a near three-to-one margin to join with the Philadelphia Alliance of Charter School Employees to gain a voice in how classrooms are resourced and school decisions are made. They also sought greater input into teacher evaluations and professional development.
Olney Charter High School (located on West Duncannon Ave.) is one of five charters run by ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania within the Philadelphia School District. It was carved out of the public system following the state takeover of public city schools in 2001, which handed control of public schools to private operators under a corporate education reform model.
ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania is an affiliate of the national ASPIRA Association, a nonprofit organization focused on education for Latino and other underserved youth. ASPIRA Association operates in eight states and Puerto Rico.
As Olney teachers and staff began organizing, management hired a union-avoidance firm, National Consultants Associated, which has a history of questionable ties to organized crime and individuals charged with federal corruption and racketeering. In the days leading up to the union vote, National Consultants Associated held mandatory anti-union meetings, costing parents face time with teachers, students hours of instruction during annual exam prep, and untold dollars that could have been put to use in classrooms.
The victory for teachers and support staff at Olney is the latest in a string of successful organizing efforts. Teachers at charter schools across the country increasingly are uniting to challenge the conditions that lead to incredibly high turnover in their schools and to improve education for their students. Often, in spite of aggressive anti-union tactics from their employers, teachers vote to join together in a union when given the choice.
“Teachers at charter schools want what other teachers want: respect for the job they do and a real voice in their schools,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.6-million member American Federation of Teachers. “Increasingly, they see how joining a union of professionals is the vehicle to do that. That’s what today’s overwhelming vote was about.”
A total of 172 teachers and support staff are now represented by the union and will soon begin negotiating a first collective bargaining agreement. They also are calling for organizing and collective bargaining rights for teachers and staff at all ASPIRA Inc. schools. On May 12, teachers and staff at John B. Stetson Charter School, another ASPIRA school, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board requesting a union vote. The Board has yet to rule on the request.
“We look forward to forging a new relationship with ASPIRA of Pennsylvania,” said Ted Kirsch, president of AFT Pennsylvania and an AFT vice president. “By opening its planning and decision-making process to teachers, staff and parents, ASPIRA has an opportunity to make its schools a model for innovation and collaboration in K-12 charter schools.”
The AFT represents teachers and support staff in more than 120 public charter schools in 12 states.
Dallas: http://educationblog.dallasnews.com
Great exciting news for Texas
“Texas House passes bill that demands independent validity check of STAAR plus proof the test is aligned with standards”
Good for them. Should be interesting to see if the hedge fund crowd abandons ship if more join unions.
This is a great piece that contradicts the “skills gap”/not enough STEM workers:
“Hidden beneath the ecosystem of twentysomething programmers making six figures at big tech companies is a class of workers who don’t get paid vacation or maternity leave, discounted stock, 401(k) matches, or tuition assistance. For more than two decades, the industry has outsourced an expanding range of jobs to contractors, including coders, chip designers, customer service reps, custodial staff, security guards, and cafeteria workers”.
“About 1.8 million of the 14 million contractors that U.S. staffing companies hire out each year work in engineering, IT, and scientific fields, estimates the American Staffing Association. Contracting giant Kelly Services says it places close to 70,000 workers a year at 2,700 technology companies, including 82 percent of those in the Fortune 500. Contract labor is particularly attractive to tech companies, says Wharton business professor Peter Cappelli, because “it’s just easier to churn them through if you decide at some point, we don’t need these guys anymore.”
“In September, 38 bug testers who review Microsoft apps voted to create a union, the Temporary Workers of America. They work full time in Microsoft’s offices but are employed by cloud services contractor Lionbridge.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-30/microsoft-contract-workers-are-organizing
Great News! But their real fight has just begun. Voting for union representation is hard, but compared to the fight to gain a first contract, the voting was the easy part.
The corporate led education reform movement has always been about busting unions and silencing teacher voice.
More entries in the charter unionization roll call:
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/ingrid-jacques/2015/04/15/jacques-union-targets-detroit-charters-old-enemy/25824841/
Good read. The columnist, Ingrid Jacques, bases every educational editorial on her hatred of unions. She loves to use all those talking point phrases like a true ideologue.
And, by the way, shouldn’t we expect this to continue growing? As the charter sector grows and stabilizes (unfortunately), their teaching staffs will become more interested in staying longer. As the teachers turn over less, they will want a greater voice and better working conditions.
“. . . students hours of instruction during annual exam prep. . . ”
Something isn’t right with that statement.
“The AFT represents teachers and support staff in more than 120 public charter schools in 12 states.”
Something’s not right with that statement also!