New York City hopes to turn 50 failing schools into privately managed charters, using donations to a newly created nonprofit foundation. But will the new schools have enough freedom and flexibility? For example, charter principals usually have the power to hire, assign, supervise and fire teachers. The union wants to negotiate teacher contracts for the new schools. Expect conflict.
United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten says she wants the union to run its own charter, demonstrating it’s possible to enforce the teacher’s contract and operate a first-class school. Great idea. Let the union show what it can do.
Joanne, you didn’t link to this article, also from Thursday’s NY Times, entitled “Let Us Run Charter School, Teachers’ Union Head Says”.
“I would love to have the opportunity to run one of these,” [head of the union] Ms. Weingarten said. “I think it would say a great deal because we would actually let teachers teach and do something that engages teachers as the professional people they should be.”
Ms. Weingarten said she had not yet developed a detailed plan for the union school, but she said it would respect the current teachers’ contract. “It would absolutely be a union shop and there would absolutely be a union contract,” she said.
The article mentions that the Miami teachers union “has formed a partnership” with Edison schools, but there’s no other mention of precedents. But wasn’t there some union-run charter already, maybe out in California? Which was a terrible flop?