MV teacher unionization effort?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the teachers unhappy with?

From the Post article, it sounds like they feel they don’t have enough support to do their job, and want more of a voice in how the school is run.

What that often translates to in a unionized workplace are things like student/teacher ratio caps, negotiating the length of the workday and probably standardized salary bands.

Curious how this is affecting the kids. (Not that I don't care about teacher working conditions, just looking for more specifics as we're high on the MV waitlist for K).

[Anonymous]

When MV decided to expand against the desires of the vast majority of parents, several teachers approached the parents who testified at the charter board hearing and thanked them for speaking out publicly. They said that many, many teachers expressed similar misgivings about the school expanding too soon, but the administration ignored them. And they didn't have to power to speak out publicly. I've heard lots of stories about Spanish-language teachers afraid to speak out about working conditions because of their immigration status. I think this has been an issue for a long time, and it is finally boiling over.

How does it affect kids? They have overworked teachers who are frustrated because they are on the front lines, yet don't have a say in decisions that affect them and their students. I'd rather have teachers who feel appreciated and empowered teaching my kids. But I'm not the least bit surprised that administration is so far unwilling to recognize the union.

[Anonymous]

The article says MV’s average salary is on the lower end and has 27% turnover.

That’s not completely out of the ordinary for charters but when you factor in a controversial expansion they may be pushed over the edge.

The number of teachers who appear to have signed on is impressive. But given some of MV’s donors, who are adamantly anti-union, it will be interesting to see what the MV Board does.

They can vote to recognize the union without contesting it, or refuse and the NLRB will force an election.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When MV decided to expand against the desires of the vast majority of parents, several teachers approached the parents who testified at the charter board hearing and thanked them for speaking out publicly. They said that many, many teachers expressed similar misgivings about the school expanding too soon, but the administration ignored them. And they didn't have to power to speak out publicly. I've heard lots of stories about Spanish-language teachers afraid to speak out about working conditions because of their immigration status. I think this has been an issue for a long time, and it is finally boiling over.

How does it affect kids? They have overworked teachers who are frustrated because they are on the front lines, yet don't have a say in decisions that affect them and their students. I'd rather have teachers who feel appreciated and empowered teaching my kids. But I'm not the least bit surprised that administration is so far unwilling to recognize the union.

It is ironic because the school said that one of the reasons they were expanding was because the teachers wanted more growth opportunities and expanding (the school said) would give them that. I don't think parents believed that, but the school did say that. The school has at least one Board member who has worked for unions so it will be interesting to see how that factors in.

Personally I wish the teachers the best and hope their efforts are successful but I wish the parents would let the teachers lead this. The school already showed that they don't care what parents think when they ignored the 200+ parents who signed letters opposing the expansion.

[Anonymous]

The teachers are leading this. They've asked for support from parents but that's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are leading this. They've asked for support from parents but that's it.

Ugh. With a new campus and this, it seems like a lot of administrative drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are leading this. They've asked for support from parents but that's it.

Ugh. With a new campus and this, it seems like a lot of administrative drama.

Asking for fair treatment and democratic representation at work isn’t administrative drama. Teachers are people too, and they deserve a seat at the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are leading this. They've asked for support from parents but that's it.

Ugh. With a new campus and this, it seems like a lot of administrative drama.

Asking for fair treatment and democratic representation at work isn’t administrative drama. Teachers are people too, and they deserve a seat at the table.

PP, fair point. I'm actually very prounion, but watched the Chavez school effort burn. Let me reword: it seems like between this and the logistics of opening a new campus, how is the administration balancing all these efforts at once?

[Anonymous]

As a parent with high numbers (for K) at MV and another HRCS, does this effort indicate anything I should be concerned about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are leading this. They've asked for support from parents but that's it.

Ugh. With a new campus and this, it seems like a lot of administrative drama.

Asking for fair treatment and democratic representation at work isn’t administrative drama. Teachers are people too, and they deserve a seat at the table.

PP, fair point. I'm actually very prounion, but watched the Chavez school effort burn. Let me reword: it seems like between this and the logistics of opening a new campus, how is the administration balancing all these efforts at once?

Unless the administration is engaging in an anti-union campaign, the administration doesn’t have much to do until they recognize the creation of a bargaining unit and enter into contract negotiations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent with high numbers (for K) at MV and another HRCS, does this effort indicate anything I should be concerned about?

Well at our school the teachers were unhappy and then the admin listened and is now doing a salary review and banding at their request. So I guess a concern would be that they felt they were not being heard in the first place. I’d look into it further if offered the spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent with high numbers (for K) at MV and another HRCS, does this effort indicate anything I should be concerned about?

That MV teachers care about the future of the school but want a raise and more of a voice in decisions about the school. They feel the voice of front line educators isn’t sought or heeded as much as it could be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent with high numbers (for K) at MV and another HRCS, does this effort indicate anything I should be concerned about?

That MV teachers care about the future of the school but want a raise and more of a voice in decisions about the school. They feel the voice of front line educators isn’t sought or heeded as much as it could be.

Thanks PP. What are the actual issues of concern? I have no problem with a union, mainly I think a school should be able to keep its teachers reasonably satisfied and if they are not, I want to know why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent with high numbers (for K) at MV and another HRCS, does this effort indicate anything I should be concerned about?

You should keep in mind the teachers are engaging in an effort that will help with stability and long term viability of the school. Charter school teachers are paid less than DCPS and without a seat at the decision-making table, they don't have a lot of power. So this may seem scary or unsettling to potential parents but its something that needs to happen if MV wants to start keeping teachers longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent with high numbers (for K) at MV and another HRCS, does this effort indicate anything I should be concerned about?

You should keep in mind the teachers are engaging in an effort that will help with stability and long term viability of the school. Charter school teachers are paid less than DCPS and without a seat at the decision-making table, they don't have a lot of power. So this may seem scary or unsettling to potential parents but its something that needs to happen if MV wants to start keeping teachers longer.

The problem is as mentioned on another post, charters are funded at a fraction of DCPS. But yes teachers need a voice. I hope this works out for the best.