(ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA) - Education Minnesota Scored a Rare Win in the Charter-School Sector Last Week When 25 Teachers at a German Immersion School in St. Paul Gave 80% Support to Forming a Union, Making It the Sole Unionized Charter School in the State.

Charter Schools Have Been an Elusive Target For the Statewide Teacher Organization, Despite Its Almost Total Success in Organizing District Teachers Across the State.

Only Four Charter-School Teaching Staffs Have Been Union-Represented Since the First Such School Opened In 1992, But None Has Been Recently Until the Vote at Twin Cities German Immersion School.  The Next Step Will Be Contract Bargaining.  The Kindergarten Through Grade 8 School, Which Is In Its Ninth Year, Enrolls 375 Students.

The Win May Represent Something Of An Anomaly.

A Substantial Portion of the Teaching Staff is Made Up of German-Born Educators Who Enjoyed Better Working Conditions In Their Home Country, According to Teachers Who Helped the Organizing Drive.

Chair Matt Schneider said in a Statement the School’s Board “Supports Our Teachers’ Rights, Including Their Right to Form a Union.”  He said the School’s Growth and High Scores On Both Minnesota and German Assessment Tests Shows Teachers are Skilled and Dedicated.

A Number of Factors Have Weighed Against Broader Organizing of Minnesota Charter Schools. Many Have High Staff Turnover, Which Makes Sustaining an Organizing Drive Difficult - and Until 2009, Teachers Also Were Required to Make Up a Majority of a Charter’s Board, Making Them Both Management and Labor.  “There Can Be a Little Bit of a ‘Fear Factor.’  The Freedom to Speak May Not Be as Prevalent,” Education Minnesota’s President Denise Specht said.  She Praised the Immersion School’s Teachers, Saying They’re Devoted to Improving Working Conditions at a School to Which Many of Them Send Their Own Children.

According to the National Alliance For Public Charter Schools, 12.3% of the Nation’s Charter Schools Had Collective Bargaining Agreements in 2009-10.  The State of Wisconsin Had the Highest Number at 121 and Five States - Including Iowa - Required Charter Schools to Have Union Staffs.  Minnesota Leaves That Choice to Teachers.

Minnesota’s First Charter School, City Academy in St. Paul, was Initially Union-Represented, But No Longer Is - Due to Reorganization.  Charter Schools Near Hibbing and Forest Lake that Unionized Later Closed.  Teachers at Ubah Academy in Hopkins Began the Organizing Process in 2010, But By the Time They Won a Protracted Court Fight Over Who Was Eligible to Vote and Turnover in Staff Had Made Moot the Win.

According to a Just-Released Study by a Labor Economist and an Education Professor, Data Suggest That Teacher Unionization Doesn’t Significantly Help or Hurt Student Achievement. They Studied Student Achievement Trends at 1,126 California Charter Schools.  Some of Which Were Always Unionized, Some of Which Chose to Unionize, But Most of Which Were Non-Union.  The Only Impact They Noticed on Achievement Came During the Year in Which Workers Unionized.  According to Co-Author Aaron Sojourner at the University Of Minnesota, That Dip May Have Reflected the Union Issue Distracting Both Teachers and Administrators, But He Said Student Performance Rebounded Relatively Soon.

Two Teachers Involved in the Organizing Drive said Due-Process Issues Were Part of Their Quest to Form a Union at a School at Which They Have At-Will Contracts With Less Job Security.  “It’s Just Part of the German Employment Practices to Have a Contract,” Teacher Katie Stephens said.  Another Teacher, Susan Johnson, said: “We Wanted the Same Things That Other Public Schoolteachers Have Around Here.”

According to State Department of Education Data, Teachers at the School Were Paid an Average Salary of $38,822 in 2013, Compared to a Statewide Average of $54,945.  That Comparison Doesn’t Account For Possible Experience Differences.

Johnson Said a Majority of the School’s Staff is German-Born.  Some Have Taken Leaves to Teach Here For Three Years on a Visa, While Others are Permanent U.S. Residents.  Specht said the German-Born Teachers Have Remarked They’re Paid “Much Less” Here Than in Germany.

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