Unions and Charters: Like Oil and Water

Much has been made of the New York KIPP charter school that unionized. Now another KIPP school staff has voted to unionize and KIPP officials are opposing the action. KIPP AMP (Always Mentally Prepared) charter school in Brooklyn opened in 2005 and enrolls 275 students in grades 5-8.

The Center for Education Reform had this to say about it:

Question: What do the union organizing of charter schools and the stimulus
package have in common?
Answer: Both bail out the status quo in general, and unions in particular.
To wit:

NAIVE? For several years the leaders of the AFT have been hanging around charter school conferences, even been asked to speak. The warm and fuzzies of these prized visits disarmed charter supporters. Now with highly successful charters getting infiltrated for union takeovers, some are wondering if they were duped (you think?!).

KIPP. Knowledge is indeed power, but the push by a few teachers to organize this model school seems to have been discounted until it was too late. Now KIPP is fighting back, and the union effort may end up in arbitration if not accepted by Thursday. What KIPP needs to do is remind its teachers and families that its success with students - the point of it all - is accomplished by individual teachers executing a unique program, and not the result of union rules.

DO YOU SEE A PATTERN? In another AFT stronghold, the union is attempting to move in on the hugely successful Chicago International Charter School. With the freedom from contracts that charters were designed to enjoy, Chicago International has created a world-class system of schools that help stem the exodus of families in the Windy City and provides exceptional schooling to more than 6,400 kids. That is apparently not enough for the AFT, which is working to place fear in the hearts of devoted teachers there. Says executive director Beth Purvis, "We realize that unions may have played an important role in schools across the country; however Chicago International's position is that they are not necessary within our charter school and that unions may not have a positive impact on our mission."