November 15, 2007

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We Are All Responsible

Filed under: Charter School by Jonathan Gyurko @ 11:14 am

This past weekend, noted educator Deborah Meier, Green Dot founder Steve Barr, and UFT President Randi Weingarten spoke at the Coalition of Essential Schools’ (CES) Fall Forum on the topic of “Building the Progressive Charter School Movement.” Although we often think of charter schools as pedagogically “traditionalist” (in the mode of KIPP and Achievement First), it’s useful to remember that charters range in their educational philosophy. Presenting at CES were charter school educators from the Academy of the Pacific Rim in Boston, Young Women’s Leadership Academy Charter School, the Big Picture Company and Ted Sizer’s Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School, to name a few.

CES’s Common Principles include a commitment to democracy and equity, a school culture built on decency and trust, and a belief that instruction should be personalized, resources should focus on teaching and learning, and schools should help young people learn to use their minds well. These are also the values cherished by teacher unions, and paraphrase the guiding philosophy of Green Dot. As such, a nascent partnership exists among teacher unions and CES charter schools.

Yet session attendees continued to return to the same question: “Since our teachers are treated well, paid fairly, and have a lot of say in the direction of our schools, why would we need a union?” Steve argued that he’s able to recruit and retain better teachers because the union contract represents a commitment to fairness. Randi explained that school-based contracts protect a charter school’s ability to innovate while union membership links educators to the larger profession and unifies schools around common economic interests.

But it was Debbie who brought it all together by reminding us that it’s not sufficient to be responsible for only the students in our classroom or school. Educators have a broader civic responsibility to all of the students in our community and nation. Acting on this responsibility requires collective action, and it’s the union’s advocacy at the local, state and national level that gives teachers’ voice its power.

We couldn’t agree more and look forward to continuing this conversation with CES schools and educators. Many thanks to CES Executive Director Lewis Cohen for putting this vital topic on the agenda.

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  • [...] Here, in UFT’s Edwise blog, Jonathan Gyurko shared his experience of moderating “Building the Progressive Charter School Movement,” a wide-ranging Fall Forum session that featured Deborah Meier, Green Dot founder Steve Barr, and UFT President Randi Weingarten. The discussion circled in on the relationship between unions and charters, and Jonathan nicely summed up one of Deborah Meier’s concluding comments: …it was Debbie who brought it all together by reminding us that it’s not sufficient to be responsible for only the students in our classroom or school. Educators have a broader civic responsibility to all of the students in our community and nation. Acting on this responsibility requires collective action, and it’s the union’s advocacy at the local, state and national level that gives teachers’ voice its power. [...]

    Pingback by The Essential Blog » Progressive Charter Movement: With or Without Unions? — November 19, 2007 @ 11:24 am

  • [...] this year’s Fall Forum in Head First Colorado’s Schools for Tomorrow, United Federation of Teachers Edwize, and The UpTake, a blog by citizen video-journalists that covered Day 1 and Day 2 of the [...]

    Pingback by : Pub CES Fall Forum — December 8, 2007 @ 2:05 pm

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