Putting Students at the Center: Bargaining for the Common Good in Education

• In Event: Beyond Bread and Butter: Rethinking the Influence of Education Unions in Policy and Practice

Abstract

The phrase ‘collective bargaining’ typically conjures images of labor and management sitting on opposite sides of a table, arguing over pay and benefits. While securing fair compensation is still a central role played by education unions, the scope of bargaining has expanded to include, among other things, class sizes, recess time, discipline practices, and sufficient staffing levels for counselors, nurses, and social workers. At the same time, education associations are engaging parents, caregivers, and community members in the bargaining process. This relationship works in both directions: families and communities are provided a voice in determining what schools and students need, and the local association is able to build up a network of support that extends beyond its membership. This strategy of expanded scope plus community engagement is typically called ‘bargaining for the common good’ or, when used in education, ‘student-centered bargaining’ or ‘student-centered advocacy.’

NEA is part of a coalition of unions that has successfully used the bargaining for the common good approach. In NEA local affiliates where it has been used, this strategy has led to substantially improved teaching and learning conditions for students and educators. One prominent recent example is this year’s United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) strike, in which the union won, among other things:

• A six percent pay raise with no contingencies;
• A nurse in every school five days a week;
• Lower class sizes, including an immediate reduction of seven students in secondary math and English classes;
• Counselor-student ratios of 1:500;
• Commitment to reduce testing by 50 percent;
• A teacher librarian in every secondary school five days a week;
• Investment in community schools;
• A pathway to cap charters via a resolution calling on the state to establish a charter school cap and create a Governor’s committee on charter schools; and
• Hard caps on special education caseloads and release time for testing

Achieving this level of success requires careful planning by the local affiliate and support from the state and national education associations. This presentation and the accompanying commentary paper will provide a behind-the-scenes look at how student-centered bargaining comes together. We will include multiple perspectives, including national- and state-level staff and local leaders who have used this approach at the bargaining table. [This proposal only lists NEA staff; practitioner participants will be added once they can be confirmed.] Beyond sharing the specifics of the approach, we will engage symposium participants in a discussion of the following questions: What does the expansion of the scope of bargaining mean for the dynamics of education policymaking? How does bargaining for the common good affect contract outcomes on traditional compensation issues? How should education researchers go about studying student-centered bargaining?

Author

• Dale Templeton, National Education Association