Dena Levitz, The Examiner
2008-05-23 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Members of D.C.’s teachers union are revolting against their president, who they say has sold them out to Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, sources told The Examiner.

Union Vice President Nathan Saunders is leading a growing charge to recall union President George Parker through a petition and online campaign.

Parker and Saunders have been at odds over the direction of the union and the long-overdue contract for some time. The previous contract with D.C. Public Schools expired in October.

But now the fight has widened past the two leaders, and Parker’s opponents are taking steps to remove him from his post as soon as possible, according to Candi Peterson, a school system social worker and member of the union’s board.

“Teachers are having to go to job fairs and turn in resumes,” she said. “So when it hits home it’s a different story than before. You’re more likely to say ‘This is poor leadership.’ ”

Union members have said they first felt betrayed by their president when he signed onto Rhee’s controversial teacher-buyout program without seeking union input.

But reports this week that teacher seniority rights might be eliminated in the new contract raised even more ire.

Parker didn’t return calls seeking comment.

But in a letter to union membership this week he denied reports that he had definitively given away seniority perks.

“The WTU membership will have the final say on any DCPS seniority proposal, as well as the entire tentative agreement once negotiations have ended,” he wrote. “Prior to the membership vote, a copy of the tentative agreement will be provided to all WTU members for review.”

To recall Parker, 30 percent of the union’s members — or 1,200 of the 4,000 members — have to sign a petition that supports his removal.

Members on a new union committee formed to make this happen said they had no doubts that they could get thousands of teachers in their corner.

Members told The Examiner Thursday afternoon that they planned to challenge Parker during an evening executive board meeting, which was closed to the public.

Claudette Carson, a sixth-grade teacher and union representative at Garfield Elementary, said she would attend the meeting to speak out against Parker’s leadership.

“We feel misrepresented,” she said. “There’s nothing more important that a union does than protect seniority.”

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com