Reply to WTU Contract and Charter Schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Your child's teacher chose to work at a school where they are neither a government employee or a union member. Both of those come with a lot of benefits that those teachers chose not to have when they applied at a charter school. I assume there are benefits of working at a charter as opposed to a neighborhood school, but I am not sure what they are. This is often why the average age of teachers and years of experience  at a charter school is much lower than at a neighborhood public school. This has nothing to do with resources for your child except that they are less likely to have a teacher with as much experience.[/quote]

This. It's just the reality of charters versus DCPS. Charters will sometimes tout it as a feature, not a bug -- since their teachers are usually not unionized, charters will argue that it's easier for them to get rid of ineffective teachers. A lot of people dislike WTU or teachers unions generally and choose charters in part for that reason. But the downside is lower pay for teachers means it's harder to attract good, experienced teachers, and harder to retain them. Pretty much all DC charters struggle with teacher turnover, you will see it even at some of the most popular and successful charters. They do find replacements but none of the DC charters have the kind of established core of experienced teachers that you will find at most DCPS schools. And that's for better and for worse -- often the experienced teachers are phenomenal. Sometimes they are terrible and they never leave. A common occurrence is that they are good teachers who get set in their ways and may not make adjustments with changes in pedagogical theory or student needs. But they are a major source of stability in DCPS schools.

Right now, we are in a serious teacher shortage right now, and charters are scrambling for teachers. DCPS has also lost teachers, but the benefits of being a WTU member and a city employee have kept a lot of dissatisfied teachers in their jobs even through the pandemic. There are just major financial incentives to sticking it out, and DCPS teachers are reaping the benefits now with the new contract and the retroactive pay/bonuses. It's honestly why the district didn't see a mass exodus during the Covid years because it has been HARD to be a teacher these last few years, but teachers knew that eventually they would get a new contract and also knew that in the meantime, they had a lot of job security and benefits. Teaching is a tough job but it's also something you can retire from at 55 or 60 with a pension and good benefits. It's worth it to a lot of people, especially since most teachers actually do enjoy teaching itself. [/quote]

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