Teachers unions want public schools to be the centers of communities, and they are ready to work with charter schools to achieve that goal, according to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“This should not be a competitive environment,” Weingarten said Monday at The Atlantic Education Summit. “We should figure out how to work together and how to do things together. And frankly, that’s what the charter school that [the AFT] started in New York City, in South Bronx, does. But there’s too much competition and not enough collaboration.” Weingarten had just been asked whether charter schools can be unions’ friend in trying to make schools into community centers.
Weingarten’s statement may be motivated by the opposition to unionization in many nontraditional schools. It is rare for a charter school’s teachers to be unionized.
When asked what would be the right mix of traditional public schools and charter schools, Weingarten called it “a really false choice and false question … We need to make every public school a place where parents want to send their kids. And if there’s charters that are going to actually help us do that, that would be great.”
On schools as centers of community, Weingarten pitched schools as service providers for the whole family, not just students. Weingarten said wrapping “services around schools … not just for kids, but for families,” is among the ingredients of a great school. That includes career tech education for children and adults. She gave the example of a school that trained students how to be electrical linemen, another that could train students to become shipmates and another that had a tilapia farm in its basement and an herb garden on the roof.
Weingarten also said something that anti-teacher tenure advocates may seize on. “Bottom line: if somebody can’t teach, they shouldn’t be there. And I know we have to deal with that.” In context, Weingarten was speaking about how to attract, retain and support effective teachers.
The American Federation of Teachers represents 1.6 million teachers across the country, making it the second-largest teachers union in the country.
