by AFT President Sandra Feldman
August 1999

Let's try
a bold new approach
to bargaining
teacher contracts.

As educators seek the best route to improving student achievement, they're often told they must choose between school autonomy and standards and accountability: Either cut schools loose from all the usual rules or require all to follow set approaches for meeting state or district standards. But there are problems with both of these ideas.

People who press for autonomy usually want to get rid of school systems in favor of individual schools where there are no standards for what students are supposed to learn, no teacher union contracts, and where those in charge are free to do their own thing. This kind of autonomy, supporters say, will free schools from bureaucratic rules and unleash creativity and innovation, which in turn, will lead to big improvements in student achievement. But autonomy does not necessarily lead to creativity and innovation. And even if it did, innovation does not guarantee improved student achievement--as we've seen, over the years, from the many educational fads that have led nowhere.

Factory Schools

Does that mean our only choice is a rigid, bureaucratic, one-size-fits-all approach in which teachers are told exactly what to do and when? Teachers who have taught under these conditions will tell you this approach doesn't work. What's more, it makes it much harder to hire good teachers. We need to recruit more than 2 million new teachers in the next 10 years and--along with better salaries and improved teacher preparation--we have to offer something more attractive than schools in which teachers are treated like interchangeable parts.

But who says we have to choose between rigid schools and free-wheeling ones? We can have schools that adhere to systemwide standards and accountability and yet organize themselves in very different ways, as some charter schools do now. The best way to accomplish this is through collective bargaining, which gives teachers real voice.

A Streamlined Contract

I have proposed that teacher unions begin negotiating a streamlined contract. In addition to dealing with issues like base salary, benefits, and due process, it will contain assurances that the district is committed to meeting statewide standards for learning and guarantee that schools have the resources they need to meet these goals. However--and here's the important difference--the streamlined contract will leave the specifics to teachers and principals at each school.

Staff at the school level will be free to decide on programs, strategies, and schedules that they know, based on experience and research, will meet the needs of their students. That includes everything from organizing class hours differently or deciding the details of class size to determining what kind of professional development fits staff needs. And although the central contract will lay out staffing standards, teachers and principals will do the actual hiring for their schools.

Committing to Change

Contracts, of course, are not written by teacher unions alone, and unions alone cannot change the approach to collective bargaining: School boards and officials must also commit to change. In a district where the administration is authoritarian and teachers are treated like cogs in a wheel, a contract with this flexibility will not be possible. We'll need an atmosphere in which teacher unions and school boards can pull together to make every school the best it can be, regardless of the wealth of its students.

No Pipe Dream

This is no pipe dream. We do not yet have any formal contracts embodying this proposal, but there are school districts where union members, administrators, and school boards have made agreements that include many of its crucial elements. In Boston, by contractual agreement, Pilot Schools have enjoyed school-level flexibility for five years, and results for students have been excellent. In Chicago, contract waivers in individual schools already make it possible for professionals to decide on the programs best suited to helping their students meet district goals. And in New York City, the union and administration have worked out, over the years, an arrangement for more than 100 small, theme-based schools, which are improving student achievement. They've also negotiated special agreements for charter schools and for 40 low-performing schools.

So it can be done. Teacher unions want what teachers want, and teachers want their students to succeed. They want higher standards and are prepared to be held accountable--in schools where they have the support and flexibility they need.