Dive Brief:
- A formal complaint was filed against Detroit charter school management companies New Urban Learning and Inspired Education by the National Labor Relations Board.
- The complaint hinges on allegations that the charter companies formed a new management company, Inspired Education, as a way to avoid union negotiations for charter school teachers at Detroit's University YES Academy (UYA).
- UYA staff began the unionization process in December 2014, and New Urban Learning CEO Lesley Redwine reportedly used a number of intimidation tactics including suspending pro-union teachers and sending threatening emails, which helped to trigger the NLRB action.
Dive Insight:
UYA teachers aren't the only charter educators who are making strides with organized labor. At least 750 teachers at California's largest network of virtual charter chains, California Virtual Academies (CAVA), are also moving ahead with unionization. According to the California Teacher's Association,16% of California charters have unionized, as opposed to just 7% nationally.
Teachers at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, a charter network with 27 campuses and 12,000 students scattered across Los Angeles, are also trying to obtain collective representation from United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA).
One outlier is the Green Dot Public school district in Los Angeles. From the start, Green Dot has been supportive of union staff. Today, they're the largest charter management organization in the city, with 18 schools and10,000 students and more than 500 unionized teachers.
Because most charter schools aren't accountable to school boards, unions can offer support to charter school teachers and staff who may not find recourse or support elsewhere.