Don’t Be Fooled by Our Anti-Charter Stances
If you can’t beat them, take them in and make them a part of you and you won’t need to beat them. You’ll own them. Teacher union officials are known for their open contempt of charter schools. That is only a façade which hides their deep desire to control education. If you can’t own something, denigrate it so it will seem you’re not interested, then move in and take it over. However they are not foolish enough to turn down an opportunity to gain more power, especially in these uncertain times. In Illinois this is to the advantage of teacher unions, as they prepare for an all-out assault on their forced dues privileges in the Janus v. AFSCME Local 31 case, due to be heard next month.
Additionally, charter schools which are private schools may be subject to unionization under the National Labor Relations Act, and not local state law.
As more parents and governments turn to charter schools to improve education outcomes, teacher union officials are seeking to co-opt the schools and their administration. There is no doubt teacher union officials still want to control who enters, stays and leaves education today in 2018 than there was in 1970 when then-NEA president George Fischer uttered those fateful words. Erik Kohn has the story in illinoispolicy.org.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union, or CTU, have approved a merger with the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, or ChiACTS, a union that claims to represent 1,000 teachers and staff at charter school campuses in the Chicago area.
That’s not good news for charter school students and parents – or for charter school teachers themselves.