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Charter School Teacher Unions?
Charter schools are publicly financed but are managed by groups that are separate from public school districts. Their relative autonomy has allowed the nation’s 4,600 charter schools to operate under flexible work rules typically not possible in traditional public schools. Charter schools have generally been able to dismiss poor teachers as they deem necessary. They have also been able to experiment with innovative models of merit pay and teacher salaries.
In recent years, an increasing number of charter school teachers have unionized. Supporters of the unionization movement maintain that unionization will strengthen charter schools by providing a more stable teaching staff. Critics maintain that unionization will prevent administrators from firing ineffective teachers and inhibit efforts to raise student achievement by lengthening the school day and school year.
Teachers at charter schools are divided on the unionization issue. Some charter school teachers say they welcome unionization as a remedy to their working longer and harder and for less pay than public school teachers. Other charter school teachers oppose unionization because they believe it will inhibit the freedom of charter schools to take innovative measures designed to improve student achievement.
This has all the makings of an emotional issue in which the best interests of students may play a small part. The fact that research on the effectiveness of charter schools has been mixed muddies the water. One thing seems clear. The charter school movement is here to stay.
