Bold Opportunities for District–Union Collaboration on Teacher Quality
Teachers unions are often cast as at odds with education reform and innovation. But frequently, behind a conservative national agenda, there's a union local working with districts on reforms like performance compensation and better, fairer educator evaluation systems. Even charter schools, where flexibility in staffing decisions is a hallmark, are seeking union support.
"Bold Opportunities for District–Union Collaboration on Teacher Quality" in the July '09 issue of Education Update (members log in for full access; nonmembers can access an index of links to reports and resources related to this article) looks at some established and potential common ground for union and district leaders: better use of single salary scales, more meaningful use of tenure, voluntary performance pay, and peer-evaluations with a strong mentoring component. Union–district partnerships might not always work, but they're far from the polarities often presented in the media.
Now for a clarification: In my article, I reference a blog post from Center for Teacher Quality's (CTQ) Barnett Berry to illustrate that unions still have a place in strengthening the teaching profession and innovating on the local level (also see his recent posts on working conditions and teacher effectiveness).
This is not to say that CTQ is part of the old guard. From Berry:
"We want to get past the alternative vs. traditional battles and use urban residencies and other strategies to give ALL new teachers the intern/mentoring experiences that will make them effective. In fact we are playing a major role in advancing urban and rural teacher residencies and assisting in leading performance pay reforms led by teachers themselves. (Read more about CTQ-supported performance pay plan). We are also launching a New Millennium network of Generation Y teachers—as part of our vibrant virtual community of Teacher Leaders Network—to advance new thinking from some of our best new recruits to the profession."
Heck, Berry's "third way" might be just what this tired education policy war needs.
