A lot of stuff came in and was posted on other edublogs regarding previous posts here on old-school collective bargaining and teacher appreciation efforts in charter schools. I'll try to be brief because I feel like the use of too many words will cause power blackouts in entire sections of Queens.

1.) No, the massage photo that accompanied the post on teacher appreciation was not an actual teacher from Harlem Success Academy, nor was it one of Rick Hess' able assistants, as one reader wondered. Thanks for asking the important questions, folks.

2.) Of all the thoughtful posts elsewhere on these topics, I thought Julie at The School Of Blog had one of the more interesting points when, referring to the various examples of teacher appreciation here, she wondered how many of them would exist without the threat of collective bargaining looming over charter school leaders.

I agree whole-heartedly with what she was suggesting. Some readers will disagree, but for me this is the main reason that it is good for teacher unions to be joining in the charter school fray. The threat of organizing keeps charter school management honest, responsive and on their toes, and that's a good thing. (Charter school people who like competitive pressure and incentives should like this approach.)

But it is also worth nothing that the plan that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver claims he is pushing would remove the threat of organizing and make it mandatory in all new charter schools. Adios teacher choice, adios competitive pressure on charter school management, adios side-benefits associated with the threat of bargaining.

(The current process in state law, where teachers are able to decide for themselves whether they want to be represented, also puts pressure on the unions to make it worthwhile for teachers if they decide to go that route. From my view, teachers win from being courted by both sides when the threat of organizing is in play as it currently is the case.)

3.) NYC Educator doesn't think the extra money for working at these charter schools is worth it for the extra time spent preparing in the summer and for the longer days, year, etc. No one is forcing him to jump ship. Though I agree with many who emailed in that things like having supplies, access to the photocopier, etc. are what make the job appealing for many expatriots from traditional public schools - not the extra $5,000. Also, he seems to have a thing against any teacher who graduated after 2000.

4.) Asked and answered. Edwize's Leo Casey took a great amount of care in responding to some of the questions I posed on Friday regarding collective bargaining. I'd encourage you to read it to see how he views the issue. It's a great post. Thanks, Leo. I'd only nudge back with a followup: We seem to keep thinking that schools have to be a part of some great, massive, uncaring bureaucracy. With that as the unfriendly backdrop, Leo's case makes an awful lot of sense to me. But does it even have to be that way? Are there better ways to deliver public education than big crappy school systems, and if so, what should labor's role be? I'm certainly not assuming there shouldn't be a role for labor. Anyone have any new ideas that offer HOPE? Having to file lawsuits just to make sure school honchos don't send teachers and students into dangerous public schools sounds more like an argument for vouchers to me than for unionism. How do we get to the point where we aren't naturally assuming big public school systems are so awful? Can't public education be better than that? Shouldn't public education be better than that?

5.) AFT Ed has a good post on the topic of teacher turnover/teacher respect. He suggests that the instances of teacher appreciation described below shouldn't be viewed as substitutes for fair and just due process. I don't think you'd get as much argument to that point here as you suspect, Ed, though I'd have to guess the devil would be in the details of how that due process would work. I guess that's where the old school collective bargaining comes in, so those kinds of details can get worked out so they are fair for both classroom teachers and the people trying to keep good schools open day after day.

6.) One reader noted that the benefit packages offered by traditional public schools are much more generous than charters, in part because of inequitable funding between charter schools and their traditional school counterparts. Imagine what these top-tier charters -whose leaders clearly understand the value of a well-compensated workforce -would do if charter schools received full operating and facilities funding-on par with district public schools. They could afford to-and might even participate in the teachers' pension system and provide benefits similar to what the city provides. Imagine the options top teachers from the NYCDOE would have if their compensation package were completely portable!

Thanks for all the responses.