CSEA fumes as sister union does right by students
In an earlier post, I wrote about the Bruce Randolph Middle School in Denver and its fight to break free from labor union rules and regulations that stifle the education environment. At that time, Randolph leaders were asking for waivers from labor union rules, and the school board seemed poised to grant these waivers. The question was: would the labor union agree to allow autonomy to the school. It is a sad situation when a private organization like the labor union gets to dictate to a public school, but that situation exists in D11 as well.
When the Randolph situation arose, other labor unions around the state began to panic. Leaders of the local CSEA were begging the labor union leadership in Denver to hold fast and reject any attempt by any schools to improve. The last thing that the D11 labor union wants is to see schools performing well by breaking free from the labor union clutches.
The Denver labor union board initially felt that their interests trumped the interests of the parents, staff, and students. Nothing new there; this is how labor union leaders think across this country. The astounding piece of this initial rejection of autonomy is what the labor union leadership in Denver gave as a reason. The Denver labor union board released the following statement in a press release:
"In good conscience we cannot grant the extensive waiver requested that would favor Bruce Randolph teachers and students at the expense of other teachers and students in the district."
Now go back and read that statement again. Remember, this statement came from labor union mouthpieces. For one of the first instances on record, labor union leaders admit that it is a benefit for teachers and students to be released from the education-stifling rules of the labor agreement. As I have pointed out time and again, the labor agreements with school districts contain nothing of value to students or parents, and they contain nothing of value for competent teachers. The Denver labor agreement is very similar to that of D11 because labor union negotiators have a list of requirements placed on them by their masters at the NEA.
The self-serving decision by labor union leaders did not sit well with school staff.
"We're pretty outraged that they can't give us a straight answer and accept the fact that we want to move forward with our proposal," said Greg Ahrnsbrak, physical education teacher and union representative from the school. "They want us to move back to square one, and that is unacceptable."
Fortunately, unlike in D11, the Denver school district has leaders in high places. The school board and superintendent Michael Bennett (a businessman by trade), would not sit still for this self-serving labor union vote. The parents and staff at Randolph were equally outraged. Finally, in a decision deserving of praise, the Denver labor union relented and changed the vote. As a result, the leadership finally placed the interests of the Denver students and staff ahead of the political and financial interests of the labor union bosses.
This was a big day for Denver students, and a big step for the labor union. Sister unions, such as the CSEA here in Colorado Springs, are upset by this action in Denver. The saving grace for the local labor union is that the school board is union bought and owned, and there are no leaders serving today who will dare fight for the students of this district. The superintendent is busy building up his administrative staff, so fighting for better schools is low on his list of things to do.
Congratulations to the Denver school district leadership, including the labor union leaders, for doing right by the students. Randolph should be a shining example of what can happen when site based management and strong leadership merge. The Denver leadership is taking its role of focusing on kids very seriously. As the population of D11 continues to bleed away, we can only hope that the community will look to the north and notice that the public can truly remove control of its schools from the grip of the labor unions. They will notice that true leadership involves much more than changing the administrative organization chart once every two years and calling it progress.
When the Randolph situation arose, other labor unions around the state began to panic. Leaders of the local CSEA were begging the labor union leadership in Denver to hold fast and reject any attempt by any schools to improve. The last thing that the D11 labor union wants is to see schools performing well by breaking free from the labor union clutches.
The Denver labor union board initially felt that their interests trumped the interests of the parents, staff, and students. Nothing new there; this is how labor union leaders think across this country. The astounding piece of this initial rejection of autonomy is what the labor union leadership in Denver gave as a reason. The Denver labor union board released the following statement in a press release:
"In good conscience we cannot grant the extensive waiver requested that would favor Bruce Randolph teachers and students at the expense of other teachers and students in the district."
Now go back and read that statement again. Remember, this statement came from labor union mouthpieces. For one of the first instances on record, labor union leaders admit that it is a benefit for teachers and students to be released from the education-stifling rules of the labor agreement. As I have pointed out time and again, the labor agreements with school districts contain nothing of value to students or parents, and they contain nothing of value for competent teachers. The Denver labor agreement is very similar to that of D11 because labor union negotiators have a list of requirements placed on them by their masters at the NEA.
The self-serving decision by labor union leaders did not sit well with school staff.
"We're pretty outraged that they can't give us a straight answer and accept the fact that we want to move forward with our proposal," said Greg Ahrnsbrak, physical education teacher and union representative from the school. "They want us to move back to square one, and that is unacceptable."
Fortunately, unlike in D11, the Denver school district has leaders in high places. The school board and superintendent Michael Bennett (a businessman by trade), would not sit still for this self-serving labor union vote. The parents and staff at Randolph were equally outraged. Finally, in a decision deserving of praise, the Denver labor union relented and changed the vote. As a result, the leadership finally placed the interests of the Denver students and staff ahead of the political and financial interests of the labor union bosses.
This was a big day for Denver students, and a big step for the labor union. Sister unions, such as the CSEA here in Colorado Springs, are upset by this action in Denver. The saving grace for the local labor union is that the school board is union bought and owned, and there are no leaders serving today who will dare fight for the students of this district. The superintendent is busy building up his administrative staff, so fighting for better schools is low on his list of things to do.
Congratulations to the Denver school district leadership, including the labor union leaders, for doing right by the students. Randolph should be a shining example of what can happen when site based management and strong leadership merge. The Denver leadership is taking its role of focusing on kids very seriously. As the population of D11 continues to bleed away, we can only hope that the community will look to the north and notice that the public can truly remove control of its schools from the grip of the labor unions. They will notice that true leadership involves much more than changing the administrative organization chart once every two years and calling it progress.
posted by Craig Cox | 10:36 PM
6 Comments:
Craig,
Have you heard about the D11 Branding Campaign? Let's buy into the District! Graduation percentages aren't selling it, CSAP scores aren't working, so let's throw in a new way of adding numbers. They must be using their own math program, that will only succeed if I can somehow figure out how to get my children to "Super Academy" East Middle School. Have you figured out what a Branding Campaign is? The core concept behind a branding campaign is that if you put a positive message about your company in front of enough people for enough time, they will think about you when it comes time to make a purchase. At this point, there won't be enough time in my kids school life for me to even think about D11. D11, Thank you once again, for going no where.
A Branding Campaign isn't going to work for a school district. People want an education for their kids, not a catchy PR campaign. D11 absolutely needs to draw kids back into the schools, but the administration won't do the one thing that will make that happen: it's called providing a quality education for the students. D11 has the wrong motive here. The administration simply wants to bring students back to help the bleeding budget. If the goal was to create a strong learning environemnt in each building, families would come back. Until education takes priority over doing what is easy, the D11 Brand won't have a positive impact at all.
"Leaders of the local CSEA were begging the labor union leadership in Denver to hold fast and reject any attempt by any schools to improve. The last thing that the D11 labor union wants is to see schools performing well by breaking free from the labor union clutches."
Any sort of proof, or more hot air?
Anony, if it is pure hot air, then it blew in from one of your own who happens to be part of your little CSEA labor board. But this person could be wrong, of course. Tell me, anonymous union person, are you on the verge of allowing some of our D11 schools to break free from the master agreement? The answer is "no," of course. No additional proof is necessarily required.
Of course no additional proof is required. You have said it, so it must be so. Your repeated claims that you have "inside sources" rings hollow when you offer no facts to back up your conjectures.
No D-11 schools have asked to "break free" from the master agreement, so of course the answer is "no." That doesn't make you right. Where's your evidence that anybody at CSEA was "fuming" about the DCTA situation and "begging" them to stand firm? Utter nonsense on your part. What Denver does really has little, if any, effect on Colorado Springs. You're comparing apples and oranges again, just the way you do when you find some arcane bit of anti-union trivia from another state and try to extrapolate that to Colorado Springs, because all those millions of teachers all belong to NEA.
Maybe our biggest educational issue in this country is the apparent lowering of standards at the U.S. Military Academy while you were in attendance.
Let me get this straight – you who talk so tough are afraid to put your own name on this blog, but you want me to give you the name of teacher sources? Fat chance (no pun intended). As I asked you before, what are you intending to do, hug this person?
The facts pretty much speak for themselves. Denver has granted schools a release from their damaging contract. You unionites in D11 have not done the same. But you are correct in that we are comparing apples to oranges. Denver has leaders in charge; we have Tami (huh?) Hasling, John (it’s all about me) Gudvangen, Tom (just get me elected & I’ll begin to think about kids) Strand, Sandra (hiccup) Mann, and of course, Terry Bishop. Yep, no comparison. Students take priority in Denver, so I can see why that is very different from D11.
For the record, whatever the NEA does in other states or districts has a bearing on D11 because your local organization is one in the same with the NEA. Your money flows to pad the political pockets of the big labor union, and labor union orders are blindly followed by your leadership.
No, there is no labor union to demand that standards be lowered at the academies. I guess that means that you still wouldn’t qualify for admittance. I’ll tell you a true crisis that the service academies are facing, though. They are having a hard time finding future cadets who are proficient in basic academic skills because our public schools simply are not performing their duties properly. That is what happens when a private organization like the CSEA gets to run the schools. Academics cease to matter.
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