Should cyber charter schools have a union?

Cyber charter schools represent innovation in the charter school movement. Cyber charter schools like regular charter schools operate apart from local politics. This gives them the freedom to try out new strategies of education to increase student achievement. Cyber charter schools are only bound by their charters. They represent a least restrictive environment to many students who struggle with public alienation or bullying. When we place a union into this type of environment, it might be compared to placing an electric motor into a model T automobile. It may fit in the space, but there is nowhere to make the connections. The working conditions of a cyber teacher differ vastly from a traditional teacher in a brick and mortar environment. Teachers in a cyber environment typically work in the cubical farms of corporate America, have larger class loads, and respond asynchronously to instant messages all day from their students. In traditional education teachers’ work in classrooms, have smaller class loads, and work simultaneously with a class in a group environment with little time for individual interaction. These working conditions are different. The structures supporting them should be different also. When an organization representing millions of people attempts to represent these constituents, there is likely to be misrepresentation and, at the minimum, a great deal of confusion.