Teachers in Louisiana generally have a
choice of joining either the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE)
or the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT). Both of these groups
function as unions and as professional organizations. They actively
advocate for teachers in the courts and at the legislature, yet they
also support policies and laws that benefit students and public
schools. Some teachers have chosen to belong to an organization
called A+PEL which provides teachers a liability policy but which
proudly proclaims that it is not a union. Are teachers better off
joining A+PEL instead of joining real unions? What about school
principals? Should school principals belong to a strong organization
that advocates for the rights of principals?
Many years ago when I first started
teaching it was generally expected that teachers and principals would
join their professional/union organization. In those days teachers,
principals and supervisors were often members of the same
organization. In Louisiana it was the LTA and LEA, the white and
black teacher organizations that were the predecessors of the present
Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE). My readers may be
interested to know that one of my first jobs as a young staff member
for the newly formed LAE in the late 1970's was to merge all of the
parish black and white teacher organizations in Louisiana into one
integrated group. This effort was pretty successful with most of the
newly combined groups forming active local professional associations
that were very effective in lobbying the legislature and also their
local school boards on important education issues.
When I was a young teacher in the “old
days” it was generally accepted that teachers should have a very
significant voice in curriculum, student discipline policy, health
insurance decisions, the wording of local school tax proposals, and
most state legislation having to do with public education. It
certainly was not a period of utopia for the voice of teachers, and
in Louisiana we did not have collective bargaining for teachers
except in New Orleans. We jokingly liked to call our influence
through our professional organizations “collective begging.”
But the influence of teachers and
principals through their professional organizations/unions was
definitely much better than collective begging! Looking back on those
days, I remember that teachers had a major influence on educational
policy at the local, state and national levels. Teachers often were
able to get local tax proposals worded in such a way that educators
got guaranteed portions of new taxes proposals strictly for pay
raises and benefit improvements. Even before my time, teachers
achieved a major victory in reducing political influence and
favoritism in the hiring and firing of teachers by passing the tenure
law. It is interesting that now that tenure is under attack,
most teachers can see much more clearly why teachers still need
tenure.
Times have changed and teachers now
worry about the unfairness of VAM, State Department manipulation of
school performance scores, and abuse of teacher employment rights.
The Jindal administration has pretty much destroyed the benefit of
seniority, which recognized the dedication of teachers who worked for
many years in one school system. In the past seniority was given
proper consideration for transfers and layoffs. Now anybody can be
laid off on a whim even if they have a great record of success in the
classroom and have given many unpaid hours to club sponsorship and
other school activities. As we have seen, entire faculties can be
replaced by TFA 5 week wonders. There is no doubt in my mind
that teaching as a profession in this country and in Louisiana is
endangered as never before.
School principals are also under
attack. Principals
of schools that serve a high proportion of high-poverty, at-risk
students are under tremendous pressure to produce higher test score
results without consideration for the severe handicaps faced by their
students. Many principals are under pressure to fire teachers they
know are qualified, dedicated, and competent simply because of highly
unreliable VAM scores. The forces of reform are actually working to
discourage the best teachers and principals from tackling the problem
of closing the achievement gap. Instead of becoming victims of the
shame and blame system, principals should insist on support and
resources for high poverty schools.
Public education and public school
employees are under constant attack. Individual teachers are subject
to possible dismissal because of VAM or because they teach in a
school serving a high percentage of at risk students. Principals can
now be replaced without due process of any kind even for frivolous
reasons. Entire school systems such as EBR, Lafayette, Calcasieu,
Caddo, St Landry, St Helena, Monroe City, Iberville, Tensas, are
under attack because of state RSD takeovers and because of the growth
of predatory charter schools. Statistics show that there is no
evidence whatsoever that state RSD takeover and charter schools
improve opportunities for children. Yet these trends are doing
serious damage to the rights and benefits of both principals and
teachers.
Right now the teacher retirement system
is seriously endangered because many of the new charter schools do not participate in the retirement system and refuse to pay their
portion of the unfunded liability of the retirement system. Our
local school boards are now being required to pay in excess of 35% of
payroll to the retirement system because of bad decisions by the
legislature, and because of erosion of participation. Charter schools
that are exempted from paying into the retirement system by the
legislature, are still given the full MFP allocation from both the
state and local. They can then convert these savings into excessive
salaries for executives who do not contribute to classroom
instruction. Some of the savings go to major advertizing campaigns
designed to draw the best students away from public schools. They
are doing all of this with our tax dollars, while often providing
children with a substandard education! It is a fact that public
education and professional educators are under attack in this state
as never before, and for completely bogus reasons. Wake up!. . . .
This is a crisis.
The good news is that recently the
School Boards' Association, Superintendents Association, the
Principals' Association and the two teacher unions have formed a
coalition to combine their influence to fight for the survival of our
public schools at the legislature and in court when necessary. Those
efforts are already having an impact on the legislature if not yet on
BESE.
But the missing ingredient is that too
many teachers are not members of either of the two teacher unions,
and have not exercised their democratic rights to communicate
effectively with their legislators and BESE members. If there ever
was a time for teachers to become involved politically in defending
their profession and the public school system it is now! Complacency
will only result in further damage to public education and teacher
rights and benefits.
I have worked very hard to get teachers
involved using this blog and by forming my Defenders of Public
Education email system. It has grown to over 1200 participants.
Because of these efforts, we have made real progress in the last two
years in getting many legislators to support public education. But
there are still not enough teachers involved. Please send me an email
at louisianaeducator@gmail.com
asking me to put you on the Defenders of Public Education email list
if you had not yet done so. This effort does not cost you one penny
and may help save our public schools. Parents are welcome to
participate also as “Defenders” and have become effective
allies.
But by far the best way for
teachers to defend their profession, their benefits, and their public
school system is by joining and becoming actively involved in either
one of the two teacher unions, the LAE and the LFT. Now
is the time to join. When you do so, please let the teacher
leaders know that you want to be involved in helping with any
lobbying efforts needed to defend our profession and our public
schools. The dues are really a small price to pay for the huge impact
in making things better for both educators and students. Our
opponents have lots of money to use against us. Please help your
cause by making a financial contribution in the form of dues to your
teacher union.
One final word: If you allow yourself
to be discouraged from joining your teacher union by the label of
union, then you are allowing the haters of the teaching profession to
make it that much easier to defeat you. Members of the American
Medical Association and the members of the Chamber of Commerce are
just as much members of unions, but their organizations are not
stigmatized by the label of union. There is no difference in what
they do and what your teacher unions do. Also, if you join a fake
union (often because it is cheaper) such as exists in Louisiana then
you are putting weapons in the hands of the enemies of the teaching
profession and those who would destroy public education. That kind of
membership will only encourage more charter and voucher schools with
low salaries, low benefits, and no job protection. Don't be a wimp.
Stand up for your chosen profession and your public schools.
You certainly have my sincere
gratitude and respect for choosing to be a teacher in these trying
times. Thanks for being a teacher!
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