(Laura Clawson)
Charter schools are often pitched as the savior of the educational system in the United States. In reality, they are a conservative's wet dream as they are a way to get rid of unions in schools. Case in point, in Madison, Wisconsin, a proposal for a new charter school has been in the headlines. This school, the Madison Preparatory Academy—a school for low-income minority students with single sex classrooms—is being pushed by the Urban League of Madison and has the laudable goal of raising the performance of minority students. However, the school is failing when it comes to labor
issues:
[…] backers of the school agreed to employ union staff, eliminating a potential hurdle to approval of the school. The school would require a longer school year than the 180-day school year currently used in Madison School District. Teachers would be compensated under existing MTI rules for working extra hours.
Teachers, nurses, guidance counselors and clerical workers would be part of the MTI bargaining unit, but security and janitorial staff would be excluded. "We think on Monday we are going to give them an option that it will be hard for them to refuse," Urban League President Kaleem Caire said after the budget memo's release. Friday's agreement between the Urban League and MTI is "absolutely" a step forward for Madison Prep, Caire said. "The issue with the union is a non-issue now," he said.
(Emphasis mine)
The issue with the union is still an issue—you can try to sweep it under the rug, but it is still there.
According to section (7)(a) below of WI State Statute 118.40:
(7) Legal status; applicability of school laws.
118.40(7)(a)(a) Except as provided in par. (am), the school board of the school district in which a charter school is located shall determine whether or not the charter school is an instrumentality of the school district. If the school board determines that the charter school is an instrumentality of the school district, the school board shall employ all personnel for the charter school. If the school board determines that the charter school is not an instrumentality of the school district, the school board may not employ any personnel for the charter school.
The statute is clear: either the school district employs all employees or it employs none. Which means that custodial and food service staff, which is represented by AFSCME Local 60, should be employed by the school district and as such should be under union representation.
Tim Birkley, Vice President of AFSCME Local 60, stated:
In the debate regarding the proposed Madison Academy charter school the union represented employee issue IS NOT resolved. The question is still being posed weather the custodians and food service workers will be represented by a union. AFSCME Local 60 currently represents the Custodians and Food Service Workers working at MMSD (Madison Metropolitan School District). [...] since MMSD, non-supervisory staff are represented by a union all [staff] at the charter school should be also. Undoubtedly some of these students will grow up to be custodians and food service workers.
It is honorable, needed work. Someone has to clean [and] someone has to cook. Do the administrators at Madison Academy want their kids to grow up to be compensated with poverty wages or do they want them to live with dignity? If they are not union represented the staff they hire will be paid poverty wages and benefits and the staff will be transient.
During the recall elections I had an opportunity to talk to John Matthews the president of MTI (Madison Teachers Incorporated), the local teachers union. I related a story to Mr. Matthews about my father’s actions during the last teachers strike in Madison, during the 1970s. My dad refused to cross the picket line while delivering milk to the schools. Arrangements were made where he would drop the milk off at the parking lot entrance and non-union staff would carry the milk into the schools so us kids could still have milk.
My dad did the right thing many years ago...and every single union member and ally today needs to stand up and do the right thing today and demand that Madison Prep Academy state that all workers who are employed at the school must have union representation. If not, they are doing a disservice to all of the students that will attend this school and a disservice to our community as a whole.