By Phyllis C. Murray

“History is a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. History tells a people where they are and what they are. Most importantly, history tells a people where they still must go and what they still must be.” John Henrik Clarke

I remember Emmitt Till. And I remember the turbulent 60s. It was a time when history moved from a state of being rolled up for understanding to its present state: unrolled for action. Dr. Martin Luther King described this phenomenon as a time when hundreds of thousands of gallant and courageous people were engaged in the civil rights movement all over this country. King said that many of these people were not known but they were working in a most important way to make the American dream a reality.

And so it continues. The quest for the American dream: Liberty and justice for all.

Today, there is a need for more courageous men and women to find themselves on the map of human geography because the crisis in basic civil rights, continues in the workplace and outside the workplace. A union of organized men and women can ensure fair treatment in the workplace and beyond the perimeters of the workplace Furthermore, as noted by the AFL-CIO, it is the union which will represent working families before lawmakers, and make sure politicians never forget that working families voted them into office. Thus, union organizations have been extremely effective in advocating the basic civil rights causes of their members in the halls of government at the federal, state, and county levels.

Do Charter School Teachers Need Unions? Yes. It’s elementary!