School Change is Union Made

Hide Document

THE NEW YORK TIMES
SUNDAY. AUGUST 7.1988; PAGE B 7

By Albert Shanker. President
AmeriGan Fec:eraiion of Teachers
The· Missing Stor.~
S~hool:C:ltange Is Union Made
Durin¥.the last five years, the press has missed a very big story-a revolutIOnary
change in union-school board n,lationships in a number
ofschool districts. Had· dmilar changes taken .place ~n ~ny othc;!r "industry,"
it would have been ;'ront page news. Why not in education? Because
most news coverage of schools is done by education reporters and editors
who emphasize the educational aspects of change ... as. they should.·
But it's about time··labor reporters and editors got into the act because a
large. number of the exciting ~haDges in labor relations today are hap.
pening in schools.
Few people realize fnat public school employees are the most unioniZfd
part of the Amerkar.. workforce. About 85-90 percent of the nation's
2.4 million teachers are unionized. Even so, ther'e are II number of
states, especjally in the South, where teacher unions are relatively weak
and where they are still denied collective-bargaining rights.
The.last five years· have been' times of change and reform for our
schools. Ifyou accept the widespread negative view of unions, you would
expect the greatest changes to have taken pla~e in those districts where
unions are non-existent or weakest. Many would proclaim that little or
no change could take 1Pla.ce where unions are pig and powerful-at least
not without a bloody battle. Indeed, U.S. Education~Secretary Williain
Bennett constantly playt;d on this stereotype of unions when he kept
war~ing that teacher ~Jlnions were standing in the way of reform. . -
But what has actually happened? Whai'Sbeen missed by the la60r
press? That the most fundamental education and labor-management reforms
are .taking place in strong unionized school districts. RocJiester,
Syracuse; Dade· County, Pittsburgh, New York City,. Minneapolis,
Toledo, Hammond, Cincinnati anq others ~re American Fed~ration of
Teachers s~rongholds in which the union has not resisted change but,
together with innovative school superintendents, provided leadership for
major reform.· Where is the list of comparable non-union districts? The
moral is that teachers wifh ~ strong union are willing to takt: chances and,
make changes that teachers without union protection will understandably
resist. f
Of course, this has not happened everywhere. Why it's happening
becomes clear when you take a close look at what these teacher union
leaders are doing at the ).:)cal level. Let's just look at one; Albert
President of· the Pitt~burgh Federation Of 'Fe·achers.·I have
WIdespread teacher union..
partnerships in school improvement. Now I'd like to share
parts of Pondy's "Statel1lent of Union :Philosophy and Objectives":
. "Collectively employed professionals ... require a collective organization
to represent them as. a group and as individuals, as well as to
....nr"'.,pnt.'th"'i.. " ..nfp.,";nn That collective ore:anization. of
,.. "A union must always conscientiously and scrupulously fulfill its
fundamental responsibility torepreSent dnd service its members .•.. At
the ·same time, a union is not conceived with the primary mission of protecting
the .least competent of its members. It certainly is not designed
:to defend incompetence or non-performance of duties. A union cannot
':fun<;tion, ?r be perceived; in so restricte4 a perspeCtive. . • • .
'. "A union must be consistent and vigilant in its objeCtive observance
Ii)f management ... and" if warranted, in· qirect challenges to management
initiati.ves or inactions: But,. much more important, a union must
also work constructively an~ cooperatively wi.th ,management-and do so
at a level of equal stature ·and mutual respect. . .
"'A union sha~es the responsibility for assuring the effectiveness,
stability, and long-term viability and success of the institution or enterprise
in which its members are employed ..•.. Not ·onlY does fulfillment
of this bl,lsic union tenet best serve the client~ of the union's members as
well as best serve our soCiety .•• but also 1tbest serves the interests and
career welI~beingof the union members •.••
"Collective bargaining has brouglit power to. teachers unions and,
. therefore, to teachers. When a teachers union ••• achieves strength and
influence, .it ..also acquirc;!$ clear and inescapable responsibilities, including
the fundamental responsibility to attain and maintain the most effecti~
e teaching performance and learning results. that can be achieved
for the students whom teachers serve. • • • . ,
, "As union leaders we must not allow purselveS to be potittcally and
intellectually la7;y ... by just taking the easy course of criticizing or attacking
management, bemoaning problems and difficulti~s, imd following·
similar unimaginative, negative, and unproductive courses Of action.•..
Leaders must be willing to take internal political risks, if necessary, to
strengthen. the enterprise in which. the melJlbers work, to improve the
quality of the services which members provide to their clientele, anclJo
stabili.ze and lluild the union •.• ~.
"Schools are of paramount significance to young people, to parents,
to the public, to· society. and our soCial str:ucture, to the economy, to
national strength, and t.e international competitiveness ...• The vastly
changed home and family structure today can properly be viewM as a·
severe problem and a handicap to ,the schools. Act~ally, this reality
. makes schools even· more necessary, more, critical, and more indispensable'to
our society than in the past. We cannot po·jnt t.o existing social
problems and use them as excuses for an inability to succeed. ... .
"Teachers and other professi,onals arid non-professionals in the
schools, and their unions, must be advocates for effectiveness and performance
and for educationally sou~d productivity." ..
it's time to start auestionine: the old uniC?n stereotype and


Hide Document