September 8, 2015
The news broke on Wednesday, September 2, that most of our school’s teachers had decided to unionize — become members of an association that protects their rights. Misconceptions about unions include that the participants are completely against their management and are unhappy in the workplace; however, the goal of this union is to make sure that the teachers can make GCAA their permanent home.
Fredrick Warren, science teacher and a member of the unionization effort, said, “If you’re someone who wants to buy a house, or have children, or want to plan your life to be at this school working for ten, twenty years, which we’d like to do, it’s nice to know where you’re going. Right now we don’t have that.”
Currently this may seem like a good thing just for teachers, but know it will affect the students as well. The discussion of a union has not been mentioned during school hours, though it does correlate with students’ learning. The teachers spend the most time with the students, and so the union can give the best description of what the students need.
Outside of school on Friday, September 5, parents and teachers gathered at a press conference. Warren and Jess Dewes, the faces of the union, answered questions and discussed the union with reporters from St. Louis Public Radio, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and KMOX radio.
A founding parent of the school, Katie Belisle-Iffrig, also spoke about the union from the perspective of a GCAA parent.
Belisle-Iffrig said, “We’ve seen (the school) grow and come a long way and that’s due in large, large part to the teachers that we have here. We have amazing teachers; they’re very invested in not only our students learning, but in our students as whole people.”
During the press conference, it was apparent that an important factor in the reasoning behind teachers wanting to unionize had to deal with how much they connected to the school and its students.
“This is a place where if you are an artist in our community and you are also a teacher this is where you want to teach.” stated Dewes
Warren also said, “The mission and vision of our school and the community that we have and the student body that we have draws teachers here.”
Matt Frederickson, Head of School, was unavailable to make comments by press time. Although Frederickson has not yet spoken publicly, Warren said that although they have not received an official reaction from the administration, in the school building the administrators, including Frederickson, have been extremely professional, gracious, and have done a great job of having our school continue to run without problems.
Update: March 8, 2016. This story received a Best of Show award in the journalismSTL 2016 News Story contest.
On Friday, September 11, the executive director of the Missouri Public School Association responded to the unionization efforts of the teachers here at GCAA. An open letter to the Missouri public school educators was put out on their website asking the teachers to reconsider the unionization effort.
The letter stated, “In a recent St. Louis Post Dispatch article a Grand Center Arts Academy teacher was quoted as saying, ‘this isn’t a movement of discontent,’ but teachers wanting, ‘to be part of the discussions involving working conditions and the school’s direction’.”
With this quote in mind the letter mentions how important it is for the school and its teachers to be flexible in the way they serve the students’ needs.
It states, “The charter bargain has always allowed charter public schools to operate independent from bureaucratic district practices in exchange for meeting improved student achievement goals.”
Although, it addresses this point from the teachers, the letter does not mention teacher’s’ request for a more predictable salary scale.
The group representing the unionization efforts is the American Federation of Teachers Local 420. The AFT field representative for the local 420, Jacob McDaniel, said at the press conference on Friday, September 4, that organizing charter schools in the city of St.Louis is in a way unchartered territory.
Regarding representing groups of unionization, the Missouri Public School Association’s letter stated, “We also encourage educators to have all the facts to include in their decision-making as organizing is one thing but organizing with a union group who works diligently in opposition of your efforts is another.”
The association may have been speaking on the AFT’s history regarding charter schools. In 2002, the American Federation of Teachers published their study : Do Charter Schools Measure Up? The Charter School Experiment After 10 Years. Robert Maranto, political science professor, said that this study’s conclusions were biased and an attempt to get reform against charter schools.
The AFT’s study stated, “In light of these findings, we conclude that policymakers should not expand charter school activities until more convincing evidence of their effectiveness and viability is presented.”
In regard to the American Federation of Teachers current stance towards charter schools, they have created a program called AFT ACTS, an alliance of charter teachers and staff. AFT field representative, Jacob McDaniel was asked if he had any comments regarding the letter, to which he has not yet responded before the published deadline.
The Missouri Public School Association again addresses the teachers wanting to be a part of the discussions. They state that usually in charter schools teachers are a part of the conversations dealing with decisions.
The Association said, “We sincerely hope that’s been your experience and, if not, encourage you to discuss this with your school leadership and governing board before you make any major decisions.”
Prior to the release of this letter, after being asked how the past few days have been on a communication level, Dr. Matt Frederickson, Head of School, said, “I communicate regularly with our families and staff, so I have made a concerted effort at continuing to communicate in some fashion each day with either families or our staff at GCAA.”
After the letter was released Frederickson said, “The board has adopted a new policy and regulation that recognizes the employee’s’ right to organize as a union (and the right to refrain from organizing). It also sets forth the procedure for organizing a union, which will require a secret election. Most importantly, the policy states that the board will engage in respectful negotiations, with the best interest of our students as the foremost priority.”
The next step of the unionization process is to have the teachers again consider the decision to unionize.
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