A One-Day Ceasefire: What Charter School and Teachers Union Leaders Say When They Meet

1. A One-Day Ceasefire: What Charter School and Teachers Union Leaders Say When They Meet By Lydia Rainey, Andrew J. Rotherham, and Paul T. Hill Hopes, Fears, and Realities: A Balanced Look at Charter Schools in 2006. December, 6, 2006 The Urban Institute

2. Background • Charter landscape has shifted substantively in the past decade: • A lot more charters • More teachers’ union – charter school overlap and even collaboration • Charter landscape has shifted politically. • More than 4,000 charter schools. • More than 1 million students served. • 40 states and the District of Columbia have charter schools. • Six communities with more than 20 percent of students in charter schools. • 19 communities with at least 13 percent of students in charter schools. • Sources: National Alliance For Public Charter Schools, Center for Education Reform.

3. What We Did • Gathered key charter school leaders and influentials from the teachers’ union community. • Six Questions • “The Future of Charter Schools and Teachers Unions: Results of a Symposium,” October 2006.

4. Participants Bill Raabe, National Education Association Lydia Rainey, National Charter School Research Project Andrew Rotherham, Education Sector Terry Ryan, Thomas B. Fordham Institute Irasema Salcido, César Chávez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy Nelson Smith, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Michelle Stockwell, Progressive Policy Institute Nancy Van Meter, American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten, United Federation of Teachers Joe Williams, Freelance Writer Jonathan Williams, Accelerated Charter School Steve Barr, Green Dot Public Schools Leo Casey, United Federation of Teachers Rebecca DiBaise, Broad Foundation Michael Goldstein, MATCH School Joe Graba, Education/Evolving Jane Hannaway, Urban Institute Paul Hill, National Charter School Research Project Charles Kerchner, Claremont Graduate School Ted Kolderie, Center for Policy Studies Jessica Levin, The New Teacher Project Will Marshall, Progressive Policy Institute Tom Mooney, Ohio Federation of Teachers Joe Nathan, Center for School Change John Parr, Education/Evolving

5. How is unionization likely to affect charter schools—how they operate, what instructional options they provide, and how they spend money? Will unionized schools have any disadvantage or advantage in competing for students? How will charter unionization affect unions, as increasing numbers of their members become accustomed to working in a less regulated environment? Do these answers depend on whether charter school teachers form their own single-school bargaining units with divergent contract provisions or join existing district-wide bargaining units? Can the charter school strategy mitigate some of the problems that some analysts see with public sector unionization because charter schooling introduces an element of competition? What institutional resources might teachers unions bring to charter schooling that school districts and other entities lack? Agenda Questions May 20, 2006 Progressive Policy Institute Washington, D.C.

6. Key Takeaways • Both sides would like some détente. • A recognition that there are some incompatibilities today. • Disagreement about what is good for teachers. • Who speaks for charters? For unions? For teachers? • Room for accommodation among moderates in both camps around “unionization” and charters in general. Disagreement about specifics. • A lot of mistrust, deeply rooted mistrust in some cases.

7. Next Steps • Confidence Building Measures; • More data and research, a common grammar rather than anecdotes; and • Continuing dialogue.

8. For more Information: Andrew J. Rotherham Education Sector 202-552-2842 arotherham@educationsector.org www.educationsector.org