AFT sweeps to victory in Dallas
Paper raises questions about charters

AFT sweeps to victory in Dallas

When five unions compete on a representation election ballot, it's usually hard for one group to gain a majority of the votes. But not in Dallas, where the Alliance of Dallas Educators/AFT racked up five times as many votes as the other four unions combined in a Feb. 29 election to win consultation rights for some 7,000 paraprofessionals and school-related personnel (PSRPs) in the district.

Tremendous logistical obstacles--including only 10 polling sites throughout the huge district--kept turnout low, especially since many of those voting don't own cars. Alliance activists and volunteers, including local president Harley Hiscox, provided transportation to the polling sites. For some, that meant a 30- or 40-mile drive. "They wouldn't have voted otherwise," says Hiscox, adding that some supervisors also resisted giving employees time off to vote, even though they were allowed leave under district policy.

The final tally was 1,368 for the Alliance, 129 for the local National Education Association affiliate, 128 for an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, and fewer than a dozen votes each for two other groups. The victory comes a little more than two years after the Alliance won exclusive consultation rights for more than 9,000 Dallas teachers.

Salaries, health insurance, job security and working conditions were among the main issues in the campaign, says clerical worker Dorothy Isaac, the Alliance's vice president for classified employees. "We have a lot of issues to address," she adds, "but lots of people have been afraid to do anything because they're afraid they might lose their jobs." But she sensed a lot of excitement among PSRPs about the election and the Alliance.

One reason for the Alliance's strong support among Dallas PSRPs is the union's reputation for following through on promises, says Mary Guthrie, a food service manager and long-time activist. "If they say they're going to do it, they'll do it," she comments.

Paper raises questions about charters

A recent series of investigative articles in the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal raises some pointed questions about what happens to the charter school movement when it lands in an accountability-free environment.

The four-part series, "Whose Choice?" is the product of almost five years of investigative reporting by reporters Dennis J. Willard and Doug Oplinger. It details how key lawmakers in one state "opted to bully charter laws onto the books" with virtually no regard for how these new schools would be monitored. That take-all-comers approach has produced some not-surprising consequences that not only harm public education but also blunt the efforts to make charter schools synonymous with high-quality "laboratories of learning" in public education.

Among the Beacon Journal findings:

n Robbed of almost all authority to reject a charter proposal, the Ohio Board of Education "is rubberstamping contracts as fast as it can without thoroughly reviewing the written proposals or hearing from a single charter school representative." In reviewing contracts, "There is one part of the contract that state board members are sticklers for--a clause that clearly states they are not personally liable as individuals or as a state panel for any damages or personal lawsuits brought against the charter schools."

n Lawmakers did not fund an oversight office for charter schools until the second year of the program, after more than 15 schools had opened and 60 contracts had been approved. "The undermanned office is hard-pressed to complete routine checks for fire safety and criminal backgrounds and is barely monitoring academic progress."

n Profits are being reaped by private companies, called education management organizations, that have made strong inroads into the state. "EMOs are concentrating school ownership in the hands of a few and brushing aside the people who were to be given control of their local charter, or community, schools--parents, teachers and community members."

n Although profits are being made by individuals and groups, "there is no evidence that charter schools are reducing education costs or saving Ohio taxpayers money--despite lower pay for teachers and exemptions from 191 state mandates that hike the cost of education in public schools."

Ronald Marec, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, believes the Beacon Journal series will help the OFT and other organizations make the case that a system of charter schools without oversight is a disaster for students, parents, taxpayers and public education.

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001