Several publications, including the New York Times and New York Post today report on a charter school teachers contract between Green Dot Charter School in the Bronx and the United Federation of Teachers.


The deal is conceptually simple: More money with more accountability. Teachers get between 10 and 14 percent more pay over the next three years than their NYC district comrades. However, they don't have tenure or seniority rights, or set departure times.

Outgoing UFT president, Randi Weingarten, who shortly will assume her national union leadership role full time, agreed to relax these work rules and got a nice pay bump for her members in return.

On the surface, at least, the charter school did not make any concessions on its ability to manage for academic results, including adjusting schedules and replacing ineffective personnel to ensure children's learning is not shortchanged. This is a critical feature of charter schools in that they must improve and sustain high achievement as they come up for charter renewal at least once every five years. And, they receive less funding on a per pupil basis and cannot afford long, costly labor disputes with overly protected staff.

Well done for both sides!

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard