Cross-Post with the AFT’s NCLBlog. From Detroit Federations of Teachers’ Michelle Price in response to DC Think Thank writer Sara Meads post from The Quick and the ED.
Yes, it is true the Detroit Public School district has lost money in recent years – some of it due to a decline in student enrollment brought on by several factors, including the relocation of families, but a substantial part of it is due to long-term mismanagement. For example, last year, members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) made nearly $63 million in concessions because the district said it was broke and needed to buy time to get its financial house in order. Feeling for the students and as usual willing to be part of the solution, DFT members agreed to freeze sick days, forgo step increases and loan the district five pay days. Imagine our surprise when nearly four months after the agreement was reached, the district issued raises to its principals and assistant principals. If that wasn’t enough, teachers and students were hit with a larger than usual amount of crime-related incidents at Detroit Public Schools last school year for which the district still has yet to find an answer.
As far as public support goes, press coverage and actually community sentiment are two different things. The local NBC news affiliate conducted two recent surveys – one during the first week of the strike, the other during the second week. Both surveys found nearly 75 percent of the public supports teachers in their efforts to bring improvements to the classroom – and yes, that includes paying teachers a comparable wage to teachers in surrounding districts in order to attract and retain the best and the brightest. The DFT believes its students deserve that. Parents have shown overwhelming support, which doesn’t surprise us, since they know what goes on in the school buildings. They are, after all in the buildings day in and day out just like teachers. Parents know when a teacher goes into his or her own pocket to pay for school supplies to enhance their child’s learning and this happens on a regular basis in Detroit Public Schools.
The truth is, the school district receives nearly $1.4 billion in funding from the state and federal governments every year. In addition to that, it receives between $64 million and $68 million in so-called “special purpose funds” to be used for at-risk students. Could the Detroit school district use more money? Yes. But what it receives now is enough to do a good job of educating our students and getting the classrooms right.
We appreciate you not blaming teachers for all of the problems here. But we also felt compelled to correct your “facts.”
2 Comments:
1 john_at_aft
· Sep 12, 2006 at 1:42 pm
There has been a lot of misinformation about the job action, so I’m glad you’re helping circulate this.
The latest news I’ve heard is that negotiators have reached a tentative agreement and the DFT’s executive council will be considering it this afternoon.
2 phyllis c. murray
· Sep 12, 2006 at 5:09 pm
On Disobeying Unjust Laws
By Phyllis C. Murray
“How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others? The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all” An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” Martin Luther King in Birmingham 1963
Presently, strikes, although unlawful, have been the only weapon unions have had to force employers to recognize and deal with their labor unions. In fact, the AFT has documented the fact that trade unionists have been persecuted and jailed for exercising their democratic rights. There are incalculable cases where “labor organizations and democracy activists are under siege,” globally.
In New York State trade unionists have had to wrestle with the Taylor Law from its inception. The law was put into effect in 1967, during the Rockefeller Administration. This was in response to the Transit Strike of 1966. Section 210 of the Taylor Law states that the municipal workers are not allowed to strike. Furthermore, it requires binding Public Employment Relations Board arbitration in the event of an impasse in negotiations. There is even a fine for striking. Plus many trade unionists, like Roger Toussaint, TWU President, have gone to jail. Surely, this “law degrades the human personality.”
The Taylor Law seems to fit the model of an unfair law because it to penalizes labor and not management. Management seems unscathed as it moves toward the negotiation tables at a snails pace. Hence, the impetus for management to negotiate contracts in a timely manner or negotiate in good faith is absent. There seems to be no penalty for management. Yet, the penalties for the UFT strikes of 1967, 1968 and 1975 are now a part of our Labor Union History.
Even the most recent attempts by the UFT to negotiate with the city, took over two and a half years. Yes, it took two and a half years before the city even approached the bargaining table in good faith. Yet, there were no threats or reprisals on tap for management. Therefore, it is obvious that changes to the Taylor Law are needed so that one can address the current inequity unions face at the bargaining table.
As UFTers prepare, for a new set of negotiations to begin, we know that our past efforts to reform the Taylor Law have never proven successful…even after our COPE dollars were used to underwrite lobbying efforts aimed at advocating for a change in this unfair law. However, we must preserver. We have done it before.
As indicated by Abe Levine, “During my 50 years on the Executive Board, our Union has grown tremendously in membership and influence. We have weathered many crises and have been successful in our efforts.”
And surely any union that works to uplift the “human personality” is a just union. We must press on!
Phyllis C. Murray
UFT Chapter Leader
District 8 Region 2