Should a charter school have a union?

The charter school movement was started to change the status quo of education. Charter schools improve student achievement and provide an alternative education for parents and students which creates laboratories of innovation with the least restrictions possible. The goal is to maximize student achievement within the boundaries of their charter. Do unions represent restraint to change?  The purpose of unions is to maintain or improve the conditions of employment according to the “History of Trade Unions.” Since to maintain is the opposite of change and to improve conditions of employment can conflict with the goal of improving student achievement, it is easy to see why unions could hinder student achievement in the charter school setting.

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.

Is it a conflict of interest to recruit union membership and fight state wide charter schools?

I am a teacher/ administrator in a state wide cyber charter school in Pennsylvania. My concern is that we are a school of choice. For whatever reason we have attracted a majority of politically conservative parents and students. I am concerned that they will become alienated from the teachers when they find out how much of the money goes to liberal causes.

I am also concerned that our state teachers union, the PSEA, has gone on record as being against state wide charter schools.  http://www.psea.org/uploadedFiles/LegislationAndPolitics/Legislative_Updates/PSEAPosition-AmendmentsToSB560.pdf

Isn't it a conflict of interest for them to proselytize union membership and be on record as being against our school;s existence at the same time?

If an employer is the government, and the government is made up of its citizens, then how do we unionize?

We are, in essence, unionizing against ourselves. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made this point in 1937. Perhaps people might make the case that charter schools represent competition in the education market place, and this justifies a union. Charters schools could be considered competition, but the purpose of charter schools is to change the existing system, not to take it over. So the charter schools very existence is meant as a tool for change, and not a replacement for school districts. The moderating influence of unionization would be incompatible with a laboratory for educational innovation.

Should PALCS have a union?

Unions have a place in our country’s history. With out them their might be child labor, unsafe working conditions, and no guarantees of employment for those of who become competent in their jobs. Employees have relied upon business to provide the bulk of employment over the years. However, this has not been with out problems. When business becomes so successful that it monopolizes a product or service, this squeezes out any competition. An undesired by product can be the miss-treatment of its employees. The trade unions are a part of our country’s economic development to protect workers along side of anti-trust legislation which protects the consumer.

This all makes sense in a competitive market place where monopolization is possible. Anti-trust legislation is meant to stop business from becoming a monopoly. No one wants a monopoly which can become an inefficient blob of over priced capitalism. Unions serve as a safeguard against employers using employees in unfair and inefficient ways. Anti-trust and unions help moderate lazy practices of business that would mistreat employees or raise prices without a moderating counter force.

In a public setting there is a difference. Public employees are not competing. They are already a monopoly, and the addition of a union can make things less efficient. I will post several BLOG posts with confounding answers to questions that we should consider asking.

A teacher does not teach what to think. #Cyberschool, #edchat, #election, #palcs

I have made a decision, and I am voting tomorrow. Unfortunately, I can not let you know what that decision is. You see I am a high school teacher. My students may be watching my posts. Tomorrow, on Election Day my students and I will be giving out copies of the constitution to every teacher at our school. The Constitution tells us in the first amendment that the government shall not establish or create a religion or forbid its exercise. I agree with this clause. I would even fight and die for this limitation of government.

During the colonial period many evangelical Christians were being persecuted around the time of the  American Revolution in America. The Anglican church at the time was state controlled. During this period the church was a beneficiary of the tax dollars of the state. People did not have the freedom to join the church of their choice. Our founding fathers did not want what they saw In Europe repeated. Giant cathedrals were built with tax dollars and the people resented it, and their religion with it. The first amendment guarantees that this history and oppression over controversial beliefs will not be repeated.

So I know what you are saying. political parties are not a religion. This is true, but I see my job as a sacred trust. My job is to teach students to think, not teach them what to think. My students need to be able to make judgments for themselves. If they must be influenced by someone, then I would prefer that, that someone be their parents. I do not desire to alienate those students who would disagree with my perspective. It is my desire to influence as many of students as possible to think critically. If I take a position, then I want my students to see it as an opportunity to argue with me. I want them to challenge me and be challenged in an environment where there are rules and safety. In this laboratory of kindness students will be able to explore their political, religious and ethnic values in a way where they can make up their own minds with the primary influence from their parents. I will vote tomorrow, for the person who I believe will take us on a systemic course to preserve the free enterprise system, and restore the middle class so that my grandchildren will have the same opportunities that I did when they are able to make their mark.

Are you going to vote tomorrow? If you do, and you should, remember that high school teacher that taught you how to think, not what to think. :)

My 9-11 Story

 I have turned my personal 9-11 story into a simulation game to teach students about the importance of good communication skills. I have posted this simulation on the "Do Something" web site. It is a good thing to remember those who have gone before us as victims, and those who sacrificed their lives for others. Can we also find ways to use these ashes of 9-11 to create good?

http://www.dosomething.org/project/911-survival-simulation

Pat Parris