New direction for teacher unionism

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold
Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousand fold
We can build a new world on the ashes of the old
For the Union makes us Strong

At a time when the labor movement has bled membership and unions are hard pressed to defend the gains made in earlier years, the radical optimism of this old labor hymn seems badly out of place. But, as I will argue in this and future posts, the vision of unionism as an instrument of social transformation retains its relevance.

It has found expression in the ranks of teacher unionism, as activists grapple with how to respond to the crisis in public education and the simultaneous attacks on teacher unions.

Over the last half of the 20th century, teacher unions, through the hard work and sacrifices of their members, have gained higher salaries and benefits, greater job security, and a degree of dignity for education workers.

Unions also won a seat at the table in shaping what public education would look like.

Here the results are more controversial. Right-wing education reformers have sought to demonize teacher unions as obstacles to improving student achievement. More ominously, many community-based reform forces have grown frustrated with what they see as the union’s defense of an educational status quo that ill serves low-income communities, particularly those of color.

The union response to these challenges has been varied. At the national level both the NEA and the AFT have changed the way they talk about their mission and have embraced improving the quality of public education as their central focus. (Some would argue that deeds have fallen short of the rhetoric.)

A number of local affiliates of both unions have organized around the concept of “professional unionism,” which is premised on the idea that teachers and their unions must accept some responsibility for the quality of teaching, a concept sharply at odds with traditional union practice. These unions reject the industrial union model that has been the mainstay of teacher unionism. (These locals are part of Teachers Union Reform Network (TURN). The group’s newsletter is available here.)

Social justice unionism embraces much of the content and spirit of what TURN represents but seeks to go beyond it, seeing the union mission as part of the broader struggle for racial equality, peace, and a more democratic society. It seeks to build on the best traditions of the US labor movement. Class solidarity, not the narrow economic interests of one group of workers, is the defining idea of this brand of unionism.

In 1994 a group of teacher unionists at a conference organized by the National Coalition of Education Activists (NCEA) issued a paper, “Social Justice Unionism: A working draft.” It remains a succinct statement of the crisis and challenges facing the unions and public education and outlines the elements of a response. I hope to explore in some depth the key ideas in this document in future posts.

This is not an academic discussion.

The School District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers are at loggerheads over a new contract. Social justice unionism provides a lens for looking at the issues in this struggle.

Many progressive teachers are seeking to find a way to support key demands of community-based reform forces while countering administration efforts to lay the blame for educational failure at the doorstep of teachers and their union. My hope is this blog will be an opportunity to look at these efforts.

My involvement with both education and unionism goes back a long way. In the 1960s I helped organize a free high school and a high school student union along with “Liberation Schools” aimed at helping white kids to rethink US history. In the 1970s I was part of a rank and file movement in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers that won some basic democratic rights for union members.

Later in the 1980s I became a teacher, was Building Rep at my school for many years, and co-chaired a citywide, union-community outreach committee. In that capacity I was involved in many, sometimes heated discussions between rank and file teachers, students, parents, and community activists. As a parent of two public school children in the Kensington area, I was also involved in community organizing around education issues. Based on these experiences, I have an enduring belief in the capacity of people to come together and address their problems.

In this spirit, I hope teachers as well as parents and student activists of varied opinions will join in the discussion.

While the policies and practices of the PFT will certainly be a focus of the blog, a constructive dialogue is the purpose. Rants and personal attacks should be directed elsewhere. I also want to make clear that the blog is not for the advancement of anyone’s narrow factional agenda. What is needed is a transformation of the union as an institution, not in replacing one set of leaders with another.

In the words of the old song, let’s Roll The Union On.