Damn! We Have to Have an Election
Charter school teachers in Pembroke Pines, Florida, will vote on whether they will be represented by the Broward Teachers Union. Good news for the union, right?
''It's a slight setback,'' said BTU President Pat Santeramo.
The union visited charter school teachers and asked them to sign cards "indicating a desire for an election," according to a report in the Miami Herald. But, as is typical in card check campaigns, once the union gathered signatures from more than half of the 260 charter school teachers in the area, it petitioned the board of city commissioners to recognize the union immediately.
The commissioners rejected this approach and called for an election, after hearing from some teachers.
''The card was very ambiguous,'' said teacher Darryl Mahoney. "I was under the assumption we were going to have an election.''
If BTU wins the election, the seven Pembroke Pines schools will be the first unionized charter schools in the state of Florida.
The Herald reports that the pay at the charters are comparable, and often superior, to that of regular public school teachers. The schools' biggest complaint has been that the district is shortchanging the charters.
"But Santeramo said he hasn't taken sides in that spat, and he said he wasn't sure if he would lobby the state for more charter school money for Pines," the Herald reports.
''It's a slight setback,'' said BTU President Pat Santeramo.
The union visited charter school teachers and asked them to sign cards "indicating a desire for an election," according to a report in the Miami Herald. But, as is typical in card check campaigns, once the union gathered signatures from more than half of the 260 charter school teachers in the area, it petitioned the board of city commissioners to recognize the union immediately.
The commissioners rejected this approach and called for an election, after hearing from some teachers.
''The card was very ambiguous,'' said teacher Darryl Mahoney. "I was under the assumption we were going to have an election.''
If BTU wins the election, the seven Pembroke Pines schools will be the first unionized charter schools in the state of Florida.
The Herald reports that the pay at the charters are comparable, and often superior, to that of regular public school teachers. The schools' biggest complaint has been that the district is shortchanging the charters.
"But Santeramo said he hasn't taken sides in that spat, and he said he wasn't sure if he would lobby the state for more charter school money for Pines," the Herald reports.
My heart bleeds every-time I see a charter school unionized. It is no longer a charter school, it is yet another public school (government school) doomed for mediocracy and controlled by union thuggery. Only poor teachers unionize quality teachers have no need. If you are a union teacher you are the major part of the problem that plagues our government education system.
Shame on each and every teacher who voted to unionize. My heart goes out to those students who will soon receive an inferior education.
True choice is the only solution.
Posted by
Dagny Taggart |
August 18, 2006 3:32 PM
I wouldn't break a sweat, Dagny. Charters have been around for coming on fifteen years and haven't proven to be particularly vulnerable to unionization.
Small size, competitive salaries/bennies, the absence of a school district hierarchy all contribute to charter's resistance to unionization. I'd expect a push for laws, probably state laws, making it easier unionize a charter school but by their nature they aren't all that welcoming an environment to unions.
Posted by
allen |
August 22, 2006 4:25 AM
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