Union to Help Charter Firm Start School in the Bronx

I'm delighted that Green Dot is coming to NYC.  While I'm skeptical of Randi's motives, everything I've read indicates that Green Dot is a first rate program that does right by kids, and that's what's most important.  I also think the unionized schools angle is important.  Anyone with an ounce of knowledge and common sense knows that most big-city teacher union contracts are an abomination that completely screw kids by making it virtually impossible to manage the system, remove bad teachers, etc.  Hence, many wish that the union and/or its contact would go away, but let's be realistic: that's not going to happen to any material degree in our lifetimes.  So, a critical step forward would be to change the contract so that it's not so onerous and awful for kids.  Steve Barr and Green Dot seem to have taken a huge step toward that goal by negotiating a much-improved, slimmed-down contract, which you can read here: http://www.eduwonk.com/AMUContractFinalFY20061.pdf.  
 
Below is a NYT article about the news:

Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school operator from Los  Angeles, is seeking to expand into New York with the cooperation of the  teachers’ union.


Under the proposal, Green Dot, which is heavily financed by  the billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, would open a high school in the  South Bronx. The school, which must be approved by the state, would become one  of only a handful of charter schools in the city to use a union contract.  


The cooperation of the union, the United Federation of Teachers <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_federation_of_teachers/index.html?inline=nyt-org> , is  unusual. It has been lukewarm toward charter schools, many of which actively  oppose unions. The schools are publicly financed but are largely free from the  control of local school districts.


Randi Weingarten <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/randi_weingarten/index.html?inline=nyt-per> , the president  of the teachers’ union, said yesterday that she approached Steve Barr, the  founder of Green Dot, to open the school because he favors working with  unions.


“We have never been against increasing charters, but we were  against the anti-union animus in some charter schools,” Ms. Weingarten said.  The union already runs two charter schools in Brooklyn.  

Here's DFER board member Andy Rotherham on his Eduwonk blog on the news:

Green Dot Powering Up In  NYC?

NYT  gets the exclusive <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/nyregion/28schools.html?ex=1340683200&amp;en=729ff7db86346876&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss>  on the Green  Dot <http://www.greendot.org/>  New York City announcement that went down today:

Mr. Barr,  who has sparred in recent months with school officials in Los Angeles over his  aggressive plans for expansion of schools, said that he had turned down offers  before to expand beyond California and that he had responded only because it  was the union that had approached him.

Story neglects to mention  that he's also sparred with the teachers' union in LA, making this project  extra-interesting to watch in terms of the bigger politics.

NYC  Educator is bummed out <http://nyceducator.com/2007/06/ms-weingarten-brings-green-dot-to-ny.html> , big time. I still think it's got promise, the name  of the game is creating more good public schools for kids, and this could help  with that. Also, even leaving aside the union issues for the UFT <http://www.uft.org/>  and the political point they're trying to  make, this makes sense for them. Having a few more charters under their banner  -- especially high-performing ones like Green Dot has proven to be so far in  LA -- could be useful cover down the road when something inevitably goes wrong  (and that's not a slight on them, even KIPP <http://www.kipp.org/>   has problem schools, it's tough work). And, the UFT has come a long way  here…to their credit.

Background on charters and teachers' unions from  a project (that Green Dot's Steve Barr and UFT's Randi Weingarten were both  involved in) Paul Hill, Lydia Rainy, and I did click here <http://www.educationsector.org/research/research_show.htm?doc_id=420414>   and here <http://www.ncsrp.org/downloads/hfr06/hfr06_chap3.pdf>   (pdf). Recent LA background here <http://www.eduwonk.com/2007/06/la-there-is-something-to-see-here.html>   and more  here <http://www.eduwonk.com/2007/06/more-new-york_15.html>  on this Green Dot - UFT project.

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June 28, 2007
Union to Help Charter Firm Start School in the Bronx
By JENNIFER MEDINA <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/jennifer_medina/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/nyregion/28schools.html <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/nyregion/28schools.html>
Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school operator from Los Angeles, is seeking to expand into New York with the cooperation of the teachers’ union.

Under the proposal, Green Dot, which is heavily financed by the billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, would open a high school in the South Bronx. The school, which must be approved by the state, would become one of only a handful of charter schools in the city to use a union contract.