John Ploehs, Ohio

Teachers need a collective voice that counts

John Ploehs has been a teacher for more than a decade and knows how it feels to be either inside the loop on school decisions or left outside in the cold.

Inside is better, he says. And it's a strong teacher voice that union membership provides, which explains why, almost from day one, Ploehs signed up as a full member of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers when he took a job in the system last year.

"Many times, I've sat in a room where decisions were being made, quietly screaming inside that this is not in the best interests of our students," says Ploehs, who started his career as a long-term sub and later worked at nonunion charter schools. "I know what it feels like to be subjugated to people who don't have the backgrounds in education" necessary to make good school decisions.

Now, Ploehs knows the other side of the coin—and he sleeps better at night because of it.

Through CFT, Ploehs says he and other members have a real say in school decisions and a professional voice that is heard across the community. Through his local, he is involved in the AFT's Teacher Leaders Program, which gives this middle school reading intervention teacher and other frontline educators a strong voice on policy. The program has allowed Ploehs to conduct a deep study on adequate yearly progress—specifically, how AYP has led to labeling our learners in ways that are detrimental and are leading to a resegregation" of students. It's information that Ploehs can actually do something with: Next month, he and others will be presenting their work to an audience that includes not only colleagues but also state school board representatives.

It's opportunities like this that Ploehs brings up when new teachers ask why union membership matters. Teachers, like lawyers and doctors, need a way to own and shape their profession. "Without unions, the teacher's voice never comes out."