Social Movement Unionism in Charter Schools: The Tensions and Possibilities

• In Event: Teachers' Choices and Experiences in the Charter Sector

Abstract

Charter schools, while initially created by teachers as part of a movement for democratic schooling, have been employed as a tool of privatization by neoliberal reformers. Despite strong opposition from charter operators, teachers in charter schools across the country are increasingly unionizing. This paper examines the case of Chicago, where the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff recently voted to join the Chicago Teachers Union. This new dynamic in charter school unionization demonstrates some of the evolving complexities in education policy, opening up charter schools as spaces to both identify the injustices perpetuated by neoliberal policies but also the opportunity for social movement unionism to grow in unanticipated ways.

Author

• Stacey Krueger, University of Illinois at Chicago