First contract ratified at Queens charter

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Rob Callaghan

Photo by Rob Callaghan. Standing at the ballot box are Merrick teacher Christine Hernandez (left); Miles Trager, UFT coordinator of charter school services; and teacher Susan Randel. Signing in to vote is teacher Crystal Boyd.

By Cara Metz

Teachers at the Queens Village school faced harsh retaliation from administration when they joined the union, with 11 teachers summarily fired. They responded with protests, and the union filed unfair labor practice charges with the Public Employment Relations Board. The teachers were vindicated when PERB issued an injunction and educators who wanted their jobs back were rehired while others chose a settlement.

Under the new contract, history won’t be able to repeat itself. The new contract contains a due-process system with arbitration for terminations overseen by a tripartite panel with a representative from the board of trustees, a union representative and an arbitrator mutually chosen by both parties. Continue reading…

‘Promise’ charter members ratify first UFT contract

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Rob Callaghan

By Cara Metz

Photo by Rob Callaghan Before ratifying their contract, educators at Bronx Academy of Promise — (from left) Reagan Fletcher, Lisa Rodgers, Jennilee De Hoyos and Danielle Viggano — read it over.

Reaching a key milestone, educators at the Bronx Academy of Promise, a charter school located in the Morrisania neighborhood, ratified their first union contract on Oct. 12.

The contract, which went into effect immediately, covers the 28 teachers and five teachers’ assistants at the kindergarten-through-grade-4 school.

Teachers first contacted the union because they wanted greater job security and to feel freer to speak up about issues that arise at the school. They went public with their campaign in March 2010 after every teacher had signed a union card and were granted voluntary recognition in April; negotiations began in August. The contract expires in June 2012. Continue reading…

Fall UFT Charter School Conference: Building a progressive movement

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Rob Callaghan

Members take part in an exercise at the conference.

By Micah Landau

After an Oct. 14 evening panel featuring UFT President Michael Mulgrew, celebrated educator Deborah Meier, Green Dot founder Steve Barr and parent advocate Mona Davids, the more than 100 charter school educators in attendance returned to UFT headquarters on Oct. 15 for a full day of workshops and panels on “building a progressive charter school movement.”

Sessions touched on a wide range of subjects — from the role of progressive leadership in New York City charter schools to how to create an effective learning environment for instruction in math and literacy — all capped off with a screening of the new documentary film “American Teacher.” Continue reading…

UFT Fall Charter Conference panel: Building a progressive movement

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Rob Callaghan

Photo by Cara Metz. Green Dot Public Schools founder Steve Barr (on panel, second from left) answers a question while fellow panelists (from left) New York Charter Parents Association President Mona Davids, Central Park East school founder Deborah Meier and UFT President Michael Mulgrew and UFT Vice President Leo Casey, the panel moderator, look on.

By Cara Metz

More than 100 charter school teachers from around the city came together at UFT headquarters on Oct. 14 for an evening panel discussion that kicked off the UFT’s two-day fall charter conference and professional development event.

Entitled “Fulfilling the Promise: Why We Need a Progressive Charter School Movement, And How to Build It,” the panel, moderated by UFT Vice President Leo Casey, featured Steve Barr, the founder of Green Dot Public Schools and chair of Future is Now Schools; Deborah Meier, a MacArthur fellow and founder of the innovative Central Park East school in East Harlem; UFT President Michael Mulgrew; and Mona Davids, the president of the New York Charter Parents Association. Continue reading…

Brooklyn charter teachers want UFT representation

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Rob Callaghan

By Rob Callaghan

In another victory for the UFT’s effort to organize New York City charter schools, educators at Fahari Academy Charter School in Brooklyn announced on Oct. 4 that they have organized a union at the school and intend to join the UFT.

A majority of the educators at the Flatbush school have signed union authorization cards, and the UFT has filed a formal petition for recognition with the school’s board on their behalf and notified the state’s Public Employment Relations Board that Fahari teachers are seeking union recognition. Continue reading…