Will a charter school still be a charter school if its teachers are unionized? The discussion is now underway in the Philadelphia area:
...charter teachers are increasingly opting to form unions because of concerns about pay inequities and job security. This trend already has brought collective bargaining to five of this region's 63 charter schools. And teachers at the Russell Byers Charter School in Center City will vote May 26.Some charter advocates say union contracts could undermine charter schools' missions. "It will make them more rigid and more bureaucratic," said Terry M. Moe, a Stanford University professor and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution in California..."It will make them more like regular public schools and make it more difficult for them to be innovative and flexible," Moe said.
Union officials say contracts are tailored to individual charters' needs and mission statements. And administrators at unionized charters say it's possible to negotiate contracts that do not erode flexibility or jeopardize those missions.
The trend doesn't seem to be spreading.
Posted by kswygert at May 20, 2005 12:36 PM