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Do I care about the Union?

10/23/2012

3 Comments

 
Tonight I participated in the first general meeting of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers for the school year 2012-2013. This is a pretty important year since our contract is set to expire in August 2013 and a lot of people are wondering whether we are going to go the route of Newark, NJ or Chicago, IL. A number of people are concerned about loss of pension benefits, teacher evaluation tied to student test scores, and more.

But my main question is: Do I care about the Union?

My demographic is traditionally uninvolved in Union politics, and for good reason: we don't feel a part of it.

Even though the Union negotiates our contract and we are subject to their collective bargaining unit, few young teachers like myself feel that we have ownership or even membership in the Union itself. This is quite strange since the whole concept of the Union is to get people like me together and form plans of action to protect ourselves.

That being said, I find myself going to more meetings this year, holding my ear closer to the ground, and trying to pay more attention. I just wish I could convince others to do the same. Some say this is because I care about my salary, my job, and my benefits. I would argue it is because I care about the kids in my classroom. 

What person is going to want to stay in a job that has few rewards, both related to salary and emotional issues if they do not feel like they will benefit from it long term? I am certain that without the Union, teachers would be on their own in a very bad way. 

So, I do indeed still care about the Union and am trying to make the Union care more about me. I am hoping to engage the young teachers across the city to bring them together and see not only that the Union influences policy around us, but that we influence policy around the Union. We should stand up for our beliefs and make it known that we can work together to ensure better teachers for our students, more supplies for our classrooms, and fewer standardized tests mandating low-quality, uncreative instruction.
3 Comments
Rosalind link
10/24/2012 02:28:58 am

The AFT studies and numerous other studies demonstrate that current and critical issues are very different for novice teachers. The PFT also recognizes that new teachers need different support systems. While most teachers are aware of their benefits and the PFT contract, few teachers see the hard on the ground work the PFT does to work with the district to improve curriculum, instruction, discipline and professional development opportunities. We know novice teachers must obtain additional credits required by the state to obtain an Instructional II Certificate. That is why we work with local universities to encourage discount rates for our members.
New teachers frequently struggle with student discipline. We worked with the district to offer our assistance in providing professional development to improve student discipline. We provide professional development directly to teachers and schools to help teachers develop the knowledge and skills to manage anti social behavior and we have provided interventions to assist schools with school-wide behavioral supports.

We also recognized that children will not suceed in life if they can not read. That is why the union secured grants and built two Reading Recovery training centers. We used our resources to train teacher leaders and Reading Recovery teachers. The PFT's success rate was one of the best in the nation. When the district took over, the sucess rates for our most at risk youngsters dropped from 80% to 40% under school district leadership. We are willing to offer our support to continue this critical intervention for our children. If children are able to read and write students, novice teachers and veteran teachers will benefit.

The union offers high quality professional development so novice teachers can earn Act 48 hours to maintain their certificates. The PFT is recognized by the AFT as one of the most effective locals in delivering effective professional development.

The PFT also recognized that novice teachers should not be evaluated in the same way as veteran or master teachers. Novice teachers need time and different support systems as they transition into master teachers. That is why the union negotiated and implemented Peer Assistance and Review.

We are in the process of recruiting and training teachers to become Research Dissemination Coaches in their schools. With union training and support these teachers will be available to provide high quality professional development on site in every school. We will encourage and invite novice teacher to take advantage of this opportunity.

The PFT has an educational issues department that is willing to mentor and assist new teachers who struggle with classroom instruction issues.

Feel free to contact the Educational Issues Department for more information about supports for novice teachers. Trust me, I understand your issues because my son is a novice Philadelphia teacher.

Best regards,

Rosalind Jones Johnson
PFT Staff

Reply
Gamal Sherif link
11/11/2012 11:42:45 pm

Rosalind - The "Research Dissemination Coaches" program sounds interesting. How can teachers get more information?

Are there any plans to create "hybrid" positions for the program? It would be wonderful for teachers to have 1/2 a foot in the classroom and 1/2 a foot in policy world -- without losing benefits or pay. The hybrid position grounds the research in classroom practices and ensures that teachers have the time and energy to fully benefit from -- and support fellow teachers in -- the process.

Gamal Sherif
[email protected]

Reply
Timothy M. Boyle link
11/12/2012 12:47:50 am

Rosalind, How would a teacher become involved in the Research Dissemination Coaching? How was/is recruitment being done?

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    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

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