DCI Union

[Anonymous]

Congrats to DCI staff

Anonymous wrote:The NLRB confirmed the vote, affirming the decision to unionize with DC Acts (an AFT affiliate). Congratulations to all of the DCI teachers!!

[Anonymous]

This is so much better for students and teachers. Students deserve well-paid teachers with job security who don't have to have side hustles to make ends meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so much better for students and teachers. Students deserve well-paid teachers with job security who don't have to have side hustles to make ends meet.

+1. Teaching jobs are some of the only middle class jobs left in this city. The charter sector is notorious for underpaying teachers, which contributes to turnover. Mundo Verde already unionized, I wonder if the other DCI feeders (Yu Ying, Stokes, LAMB, DCB) will be next.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone explain where the unionization push stands? What does it mean that the decision to unionize was affirmed? By DCI admin or just a further step in getting all staff on board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should look at what happened at Mundo when Mundo unionized- -All the teachers left right after unionization- their pay is LOWER than other charters, and they have had nothing but instability and turnover since unionizing. NO THANK YOU

Where is the pay info?

Don’t believe people on DCUM who obviously have no kids at the school. Teachers at Mundo did not leave and supported the union and stayed. They have gotten significant raises, more prep time, PD support, classroom support. Turnover has been very low since the formed the union.

It’s good DCI teachers have formed a union. It will give them collectively more negotiating power at the table.

Posters like above don’t know crap.

The facts speak for themselves: 62% teacher retention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So happy for DCI staff.

Working class America need UNION



[img]https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/jy1708-Figure1.png

Anonymous wrote:The staff at DCI publicly announced the formation of their union yesterday and asked the ED for voluntary recognition (hopefully he does). Huge shout out to everyone who made this happen and I hope they receive all the support in the world. Our children will be better served if their teachers are respected and treated with dignity!

The fact that union membership went down as top-1% share of wealth went up is true and a big deal. But it doesn't really have a lot to do with teachers' unions - teachers aren't fighting for a bigger share of the profits of wealth corporations to be shared with the employees rather than the owners. Public sector unions are really different from private sector unions for this reason: private sector unions exist in large part to fight for a bigger share of the company pie. That dynamic is really different in the public sector.

Teachers unions are fighting for increases in salaries, more prep time, better support with professional development, more support in the classroom, better sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, more vacation time, etc….

It’s the same thing you want in your job except instead of you, as a single employee, trying to negotiate this, it’s all the employees at your company. Unions can be powerful groups and definately are taken more seriously at the negotiating table.

Charters should have teachers union if the teachers want that. MV broke that glass ceiling in this town and good for them. I’m glad DCI is following

Why do you think MV broke a glass ceiling? It isn’t like they were the first charter school to unionize.

[Anonymous]

I fear that millennial progressive parents who are supporting the millennial progressive teachers down this path in the charter sector are not realizing that part of the reason that DC has such a robust charter sector is due to the deleterious effect that unions have had on regular DCPS. Incompetent teachers cannot be fired. Seniority---not teaching talent---becomes more important. There is no reward for being an exemplary educator but lots of protection for being a poor or mediocre one.

There seem to be a lot of union boosters on this thread who are embracing unions because it is the progressive cause celebre. Unions are a business. They take their members' money in exchange for promising them better pay and working conditions through the collective bargaining process. Education unions have fought charters for the last 20 years because the charter sector has cut into the unions' business model---which is a monopoly on public education.

Charter schools already struggle mightily with financial constraints that regular DCPS does not. There is an equal chance that unionizing in the charter sector will just result in the closure of charters---which may ultimately be what the unions are after in order to regain their market share. So if you are in a parent in a neighborhood with poorly performing unionized schools who was hoping to get your kid into a desirable charter school, be cautious about the long term effects of what you are supporting when it comes to promoting unions in the charter sector.

(I also remember 20 years ago when the head of the DC teachers' union went to jail after stealing millions of dollars of teacher dues which she used for shopping sprees at Neiman's and fancy vacations.)

Unions ain't all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fear that millennial progressive parents who are supporting the millennial progressive teachers down this path in the charter sector are not realizing that part of the reason that DC has such a robust charter sector is due to the deleterious effect that unions have had on regular DCPS. Incompetent teachers cannot be fired. Seniority---not teaching talent---becomes more important. There is no reward for being an exemplary educator but lots of protection for being a poor or mediocre one.

There seem to be a lot of union boosters on this thread who are embracing unions because it is the progressive cause celebre. Unions are a business. They take their members' money in exchange for promising them better pay and working conditions through the collective bargaining process. Education unions have fought charters for the last 20 years because the charter sector has cut into the unions' business model---which is a monopoly on public education.

Charter schools already struggle mightily with financial constraints that regular DCPS does not. There is an equal chance that unionizing in the charter sector will just result in the closure of charters---which may ultimately be what the unions are after in order to regain their market share. So if you are in a parent in a neighborhood with poorly performing unionized schools who was hoping to get your kid into a desirable charter school, be cautious about the long term effects of what you are supporting when it comes to promoting unions in the charter sector.

(I also remember 20 years ago when the head of the DC teachers' union went to jail after stealing millions of dollars of teacher dues which she used for shopping sprees at Neiman's and fancy vacations.)

Unions ain't all that.

You are so uniformed. You can 100% be fired in DCPS, just not within the day like an at will charter. It will be after 1 school year unless it was something egregious.
FYI there is no data to support charters doing better with the students in poor performing neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fear that millennial progressive parents who are supporting the millennial progressive teachers down this path in the charter sector are not realizing that part of the reason that DC has such a robust charter sector is due to the deleterious effect that unions have had on regular DCPS. Incompetent teachers cannot be fired. Seniority---not teaching talent---becomes more important. There is no reward for being an exemplary educator but lots of protection for being a poor or mediocre one.

There seem to be a lot of union boosters on this thread who are embracing unions because it is the progressive cause celebre. Unions are a business. They take their members' money in exchange for promising them better pay and working conditions through the collective bargaining process. Education unions have fought charters for the last 20 years because the charter sector has cut into the unions' business model---which is a monopoly on public education.

Charter schools already struggle mightily with financial constraints that regular DCPS does not. There is an equal chance that unionizing in the charter sector will just result in the closure of charters---which may ultimately be what the unions are after in order to regain their market share. So if you are in a parent in a neighborhood with poorly performing unionized schools who was hoping to get your kid into a desirable charter school, be cautious about the long term effects of what you are supporting when it comes to promoting unions in the charter sector.

(I also remember 20 years ago when the head of the DC teachers' union went to jail after stealing millions of dollars of teacher dues which she used for shopping sprees at Neiman's and fancy vacations.)

Unions ain't all that.

You are so uniformed. You can 100% be fired in DCPS, just not within the day like an at will charter. It will be after 1 school year unless it was something egregious.
FYI there is no data to support charters doing better with the students in poor performing neighborhood schools.

Seriously. Even this year, in a budget crunch, excessing is not being done by seniority. Union bash elsewhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fear that millennial progressive parents who are supporting the millennial progressive teachers down this path in the charter sector are not realizing that part of the reason that DC has such a robust charter sector is due to the deleterious effect that unions have had on regular DCPS. Incompetent teachers cannot be fired. Seniority---not teaching talent---becomes more important. There is no reward for being an exemplary educator but lots of protection for being a poor or mediocre one.

There seem to be a lot of union boosters on this thread who are embracing unions because it is the progressive cause celebre. Unions are a business. They take their members' money in exchange for promising them better pay and working conditions through the collective bargaining process. Education unions have fought charters for the last 20 years because the charter sector has cut into the unions' business model---which is a monopoly on public education.

Charter schools already struggle mightily with financial constraints that regular DCPS does not. There is an equal chance that unionizing in the charter sector will just result in the closure of charters---which may ultimately be what the unions are after in order to regain their market share. So if you are in a parent in a neighborhood with poorly performing unionized schools who was hoping to get your kid into a desirable charter school, be cautious about the long term effects of what you are supporting when it comes to promoting unions in the charter sector.

(I also remember 20 years ago when the head of the DC teachers' union went to jail after stealing millions of dollars of teacher dues which she used for shopping sprees at Neiman's and fancy vacations.)

Unions ain't all that.

You are so uniformed. You can 100% be fired in DCPS, just not within the day like an at will charter. It will be after 1 school year unless it was something egregious.
FYI there is no data to support charters doing better with the students in poor performing neighborhood schools.

No data... except for PARCC and OSSE report cards. Can we agree that the Ward 7 and 8 schools are considered the poorest performing (by this board)? PARCC data is readily available to compare schools in those. The data is available and it does support that charters test performance is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are so uniformed. You can 100% be fired in DCPS, just not within the day like an at will charter. It will be after 1 school year unless it was something egregious.
FYI there is no data to support charters doing better with the students in poor performing neighborhood schools.

I'm pro-union and think we all need well paid teachers. This comment isn't about that at all. BUT, there is a lot of good data that suggests urban charters outperform their neighborhood counterparts, on average. And, some high quality studies have included DC.

But still .. can anyone answer the question about where DCI is in the process? What board approved what step?

[Anonymous]

Congrats DCI teachers! I have kids at DCI and MV. One of the biggest opportunities for unions is at charters, where teachers can really have a voice in decision making and teacher leaders work alongside the exec team. It’s a lot of work and takes a lot of effort, but we should support them.

[Anonymous]

DCPCS and leadership in many Charter Schools have been exploiting teachers, particularly those of color, for years. Institutions like DCI, Yuying, and LAMB are just a few glaring examples of this systemic issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so much better for students and teachers. Students deserve well-paid teachers with job security who don't have to have side hustles to make ends meet.

+1. Teaching jobs are some of the only middle class jobs left in this city. The charter sector is notorious for underpaying teachers, which contributes to turnover. Mundo Verde already unionized, I wonder if the other DCI feeders (Yu Ying, Stokes, LAMB, DCB) will be next.