Teachers union vows organization on charters

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation’s most aggressive unions, promised to revive its efforts to organize staff in the nation’s charter schools — a decision that could make D.C. a union battleground for years to come.

The District of Columbia-based AFT promised to “intensify” its efforts in the burgeoning charter schools.

“They want to have a voice and a fair salary and benefits and ways to improve the teaching and instruction,” AFT spokeswoman Janet Bass said.

Bass refused to say whether her union was organizing in D.C., but the city has the second-highest concentration of charter schools outside of New Orleans. It is also a city that is traditionally friendly to organized labor.

Private groups run charter schools, which are exempt from most labor laws that cover employees of the traditional public schools

The teachers’ union already represents the 3,800 teachers in D.C.’s public schools. The swelling enrollment in charter schools — by 2014, there may be more students in charter schools than in traditional D.C. schools — make the charters a contentious field for the AFT.

Locally, the teachers’ union is still trying to recover from the scandal-plagued leadership of Barbara Bullock. In 2003, Bullock pleaded guilty to bilking the union out of millions for lavish personal expenses, including a closet full of wigs.

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

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