Teachers’ unions step up fight against charter schools

Charter schools are publicly funded entities that typically operate outside the traditional public education system. They are bound by charters with a government agency, nonprofit organization, or university that set academic standards but give the schools flexibility in achieving their goals.

Traditional public school teachers are heavily unionized, but charter teachers are not, so their growth represents a threat to unions. Only 11 percent of charter school teachers are unionized, and in most cases this is because state law requires charter teachers to operate under existing collective bargaining agreements for public schools.

Opposing charters became the rallying cry for the United Teachers Los Angeles union during a citywide strike in January that resulted in an estimated 30,000 public school educators walking off of their jobs. The salary concessions the union ultimately won were exactly what the city had previously offered, a 6 percent pay raise, in a district where the average teacher salary is $74,789, which is second in the nation. However, the union also got the board to vote on a resolution calling on the state to cap the number of charter schools.

[Opinion: Teachers unions are right to call for a moratorium on charter schools]

Two months later, the Oakland Education Association also concluded a strike with an agreement requiring the local board to vote on a resolution calling for a state cap on the number of charter schools, indicating the unions are trying to build statewide grassroots support for a cap.

In West Virginia, a threatened February strike by the West Virginia Education Association was called off after Republican Gov. Jim Justice agreed to veto legislation that would have established seven new charter schools in the state over the next three years.

“The West Virginia strike was a revolt against the argument that traditional public schools and the people who work in them are failing, and that they must be challenged by charter schools, private school vouchers. And we won,” tweeted Bob Morgenstern, regional director for American Federation of Teachers–West Virginia on Feb. 20.

[Opinion: Charter schools do more with less money]

Ray Domanico, director of education policy for the center-right Manhattan Institute, said charter schools have long been a thorny issue for teachers’ unions due to their broad popularity with Democrats — their usual allies — but the recent strikes have emboldened labor activists. He said, “They see now that their activism in this area will get a hearing whereas it wouldn’t have gotten that, say, eight years ago.”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, proposed a state budget late last month that would put a freeze on new charter schools in his state and cap enrollment at existing ones. The action surprised many in the state because, as the former head his of state’s education agency, he had previously worked closely with the charter school movement.

“It was a big ‘thank you’ to the special interest groups. … It was the hardcore union folks that wanted to pick a fight,” said Jim Bender, president of the nonprofit School Choice Wisconsin.

In December, the Chicago Board of Education denied three proposals for new charter schools and rejected the renewal of an existing charter following a union-led pressure campaign. The Chicago Teachers Union has called for a moratorium on all new charter schools.

The American Federation of Teachers declined to comment on the charter school issue, but a spokesman pointed to comments from its president, Randi Weingarten, last month. Weingarten told C-SPAN the AFT would try to make it a national issue by asking presidential candidates if they backed traditional public schools or the “private, for-profit charter operator who doesn’t have any accountability.”

She added, “I have heard from some people that they view [charter school support] as a complete impediment.”