Becoming Unionized in a Charter School: How Charter School Teachers Navigate the Culture of Choice

• In Event: The New Educational Structures of Neoliberalism: Pitfalls and Possibilities of Charter Schools and Other “School Choice” Arrangements

Abstract

Charter schools have become a widely accepted and rapidly growing option for educational reform especially for low-income, inner-city students. In Los Angeles, the charter movement has promised teachers greater autonomy and collaboration than in the traditional public schools, yet the working conditions of teachers in charter schools have not created the conditions for this movement to create true reform in public education.

By using a neoliberal theoretical framework and a qualitative case study design, this study captured the voices of unionized teachers and document their beliefs and experiences in an environment shaped by a culture of choice. This paper will describe 1) the culture and environment that led teachers to seek unionization, 2) the relationships between teachers and management, and 3) the teachers’ model of unionism.

This study utilized a qualitative case study design to focus on the experiences of one group of teachers within one charter management organization. The data collection consisted of: coding documents, retrospective interviews, observations and ethnographic field notes, and semi-structured focus groups. There were 17 participants, including former and current teachers all who were members and/or leaders of the teachers’ union. After collecting data, I utilized an inductive analysis to extract the themes directly from the participants (Hatch, 2002). Instead of gathering data in order to test a hypothesis, in the inductive analysis model, the theory emerged from the context of the study.

This study uncovered how teachers within a charter school chose to unionize and navigated a culture focused on business ideals and choice. The participants’ voices detailed a collaborative culture that lured teachers to escape the negative environment in public district schools, to then face so much work that very often they chose to leave the charter school environment. Teachers valued their autonomy while not realizing that the true choice existed only for the management of the school that had the ultimate power over their working conditions. When teachers decided to unionize, they faced antagonism from their school leaders, and a backlash for their involvement in the unionization. Teachers fell prey to the intimidation of the public’s perception on tenure and gave up this fundamental protection. In seeking to fit within the charter model, they also moved away from the traditional model of unionism and were left without a clear understanding of what being a union meant. Union leaders continued to face many challenges in creating a union that had true parity with the management of the school. Still, they maintained the importance of unionizing and hoped to create a collaborative environment where professionalism flourished.

This paper sheds light on how charter school teachers worked within a culture of choice that inherently opposed their unionization. By documenting the experiences of teachers, this paper provides a unique lens for union leaders, charter school leaders, researchers and teachers to examine the impact of the charter movement on the teaching profession.

Author

• Elizabeth Montaño, University of California - Davis