Charter school unions. A good thing?

More and more, permit school teachers throughout the country are following the lead of educators in the Pembroke Pines charter school system by unionizing, but some goggle if that’s a good thing, according to the New York Times. Most of the nation’s 4,600 charter schools operate without unions. The Times reports that seven Florida schools (the Pembroke Pines schools) started to catalogue charter school teachers into a union two years ago. The push has spread because charter school teachers nationwide see themselves earning less and working longer days than their counterparts in routine schools, the Times reported. Another reason is teachers hope a union will strengthen the charter movement by stabilizing its childlike, often transient workforce, the article said. But advocates say without unions, charter schools are freer to innovate because of less officialism, allowing them to lengthen the school day, get rid of under-performing teachers at will and experiment with merit pay and other changes that are often banned by work rules governing well-known public schools. So how are things going for those Pembroke Pines teachers? Contract-wise, not so good. Pembroke Pines authority school teachers declared an impasse with the city in July after contract negotiations continued for more than a year. The out-and-out sticking point, according to the Broward Teachers Union, appears to be $150,000 to provide raises for those employees who don’t walk off incremental pay increases based on seniority. This type of labor unrest is one of the disadvantages of charter view unions, the article says, quoting some teachers who feel it detracts from “culture of collegiality” that helps schools grow rich. Still, the article doesn’t say charter school unions are good or bad. It simply gives both side sides of the debate, which like most enchanting national news, has a Florida connection.