(Real) Reformers Win Round One in D.C. Teachers Election

[Hannah Bell]

A slate of union reformers won a narrow victory Wednesday in the first round of a teachers’ union election in Washington, D.C., and they are well positioned for a larger victory in the run-off to be held in the next few weeks.

The 24-member reform slate, led by presidential candidate Nathan Saunders, currently the general VP of the Washington Teachers Union, came together this year to challenge WTU President George Parker, who offered virtually no resistance to the mass teacher firings and school closures implemented by recently resigned D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee.

The election in the 4,000-member WTU has far-reaching implications because Rhee and the D.C. school district have been celebrated as national models for the corporate version of school reform being carried out by President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Both Saunders and running mate Candi Peterson, a WTU trustee and blogger who seeks the General VP slot, strongly oppose the corporate school agenda that blames teachers for the problems in public education and emphasizes privately run, non-union charter schools.

Unofficial results, with challenged ballots not yet counted, gave Saunders a slim lead of 334-313. With two other candidates in the presidential race, none received more than 50 percent of the vote, as the WTU constitution requires, so a run-off will be held....Thus the run-off is expected to pit the Saunders full slate against the Parker full slate.

Jackson believes the 234 votes for the other two candidates also represented an “anti-incumbent” vote, and that these voters will support the Saunders slate in the final round. “Sixty-five percent of the vote were teachers saying they are tired of what they’re getting,” said Jackson. “They want a union that’s a union.”

http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2010/10/reformers-win-round-one-dc-teachers-election

[dkf]

1. Well the proof is in the pudding...let's see what happens to student achievement.

I'm willing to see if the teacher's version of reform is better.

[Hannah Bell]

2. *union* reform.

[dkf]

5. Well for those of us who do believe the unions are in the way we will see if reforms are there to

Further teacher training that benefits kids or throw up more barriers to flexibility. They will validate the need for charter schools or not.

If they become more obstinate then charter schools it is.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. How progressive of you

I'm sure you are also an expert on which kind of training really benefits kids. What do those union teachers know? Certainly not as much as you! :sarcasm:

[dkf]

8. My problem is i do believe the unions put protecting teachers above ensuring every child has a

decent education.

I saw it here in Hawaii when the union wanted furlough days to fall on instructional days instead of planning days. I also saw it when they refused to let parents hire their regular teachers on those furlough days. And I saw it when the Governor offered $55 million to get rid of the furlough days and the union said it was not enough.

Thank goodness the legislature mandated a minimum of 180 days of instruction. It is sad they had to do that as you would think a union of educators understands that 4 days of instruction a week for half the school year with no increase in hours during instructional days cannot be a good thing.

Some teachers who give a damn were unhappy they were never given a choice to take a paycut in this bad economy with provisions to bring back pay to current levels when the economy improved. I applaud those teachers who are reasonable and who care more about their kids than in protecting their salaries for a couple of years. The rest of the people took a decrease in pay as tax receipts declined. Teachers should have helped to share the burden as well.

This is the experience that is front and center in my mind as we talk about teachers unions.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Without planning, there is no instruction

Have you ever taught? I dare you to go into a classroom tomorrow with no plans. See how long you last.

I also doubt any teachers would choose to take a pay cut. That's just a pretend scenario that helps you make your point.

Your agenda is abundantly clear. How narrow minded to judge all unions based on what you saw in one. Surely your own teachers taught you to be a better critical thinker.

[dkf]

11. Of course you need to plan.

What is wrong with planning on the days you don't have to go to school because you are furloughed? Professionals prepare because they want to do a good job, not necessarily because they get paid for it.

[KamaAina]

10. That reads like one of Lingle (R)'s press releases

If she gave a damn about anything but "no new taxes", Hawai'i wouldn't have been in that mess in the first place.

[dkf]

12. If the states tax receipts are down 15% that means the private sector has already taken a 15% cut

Should their take home pay be cut even more to keep only one segment of the population, teachers, at status quo?

And look at what the UH professors negotiated...a cut in pay now while we are struggling, to be reinstated in the future when things should be better. They managed to keep all their instructional days when faced with the same exact situation.

The DOE and the BOE thought this was the best thing for our kids? Really?

Weren't you pissed when the parents who were trying to keep up instructional hours were told the teachers could not teach a normal curriculum even if the parents paid them directly thanks to the union contract?

And I have no doubt the idea was to inflict enough pain on the kids so that the public would be screaming to raise our taxes. They decided to play chicken with the welfare of our kids. I find it unforgivable.

[KamaAina]

14. If the state's tax receipts are down 15%

it means someone -- either the Legislature or Lingle (R) -- didn't have the courage to raise taxes so as to keep the state afloat for the next couple of years (we hope). And you don't have the onerous 2/3 vote requirement that we do in CA, so I can only assume it was because of Lingle (R).

[Catshrink]

13. There you go again

spewing your uninformed bullshit, claiming that the problems are "all those incompetent teachers the unions are protecting."

The problem is all the fucking politicians and education consultants invading the classroom interfering with classroom teachers. The problem is the poverty that denies poor kids a level playing field. But you will never acknowledge that. You have an agenda, a meme, an anti-union crusade whose main claim has no basis in reality. I think you're on the wrong board.

[Starry Messenger]

3. k&r

[LWolf]

4. I'm glad to hear it. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Parker also canceled this election, which was to be held in June

Glad they finally got that mess straightened out and held their election.