Back in the mid-2000s, in public and in the news media, Joseph P. Burke, then the superintendent of the Springfield public schools, and Timothy T. Collins, the president of the local teachers鈥� union, often seemed to be at odds with each other.
With the Massachusetts city under the control of an independent finance control board, Mr. Collins鈥� members faced no raises. Turnover was high. Reporting in part to the board, Mr. Burke faced competing pressures during drawn-out contract negotiations.
Out of the public eye, however, the two men had begun meeting regularly, with help from the Cambridge, Mass.-based Rennie Center for 91制片厂视频 Research & Policy. Gradually, they put new initiatives jointly into motion, including efforts to use surveys to improve school climate. When Mr. Burke left the district, the work continued under his successor, Alan J. Ingram, who appointed Mr. Collins to the district鈥檚 senior leadership team and budget-advisory committee. Both bodies provide advice to the superintendent.
鈥淔orming a relationship with the union was not a luxury, it was absolutely necessary,鈥� Mr. Ingram said in an email.
The relationship has started to trickle down to schools, particularly those with funding from a National 91制片厂视频 Association Foundation grant to further such work.
鈥淚n schools where people can feel free to disagree and to challenge their thinking, they鈥檙e moving forward at a much more accelerated rate,鈥� Mr. Collins said. 鈥淭eachers feel respected and teachers feel listened to鈥攏ot necessarily agreed with鈥攂ut they walk away from the conversation feeling like they鈥檝e been heard.鈥�
In fits and starts鈥攁nd amid budget crises and legislative changes to bargaining鈥攖here are signs that more school administrators and teachers鈥� unions, like those in Springfield, are doing business together in a different way.
Three large urban districts and their American Federation of Teachers-affiliated unions鈥�New Haven, Conn., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh鈥攅ach recently used the collective bargaining process to ink contracts with new approaches to teacher evaluation or compensation. AFT has also established a $3 million Innovation Fund to help other local districts and unions begin joint projects.
While generally less associated with the move toward collaborative labor-management relationships, the NEA has committed more than $15 million, financed through member dues and its independent foundation, to support collaborative efforts, such as those in Springfield.
1970s
Florida鈥檚 Hillsborough County district and its teachers jointly craft new curriculum in all core subjects; they begin to establish aligned assessments.
1981
The 鈥淭oledo Plan,鈥� a joint labor-management evaluation and professional-support tool also known as peer review, debuts in Toledo, Ohio.
1993
The teachers鈥� union in ABC school district, in Los Angeles County, goes on strike. In the aftermath, union President Laura Rico works to build better relationships with the superintendent, resulting in a formal partnership in 1999 that has guided district policy ever since.
The Douglas County Federation of Teachers, in Colorado, and its school district jointly craft one of the first performance-pay plans in the nation.
1996
Adam Urbanski, the president of the Rochester Federation of Teachers, in New York, begins the Teachers Union Reform Network, a project of progressive union affiliates. Initially formed with 21 chapters, it now counts 30 member unions and five regional turn networks.
1997
During the National 91制片厂视频 Association鈥檚 annual meeting, President Bob Chase calls on unions to embrace 鈥渘ew unionism.鈥�
NEA President Bob Chase addresses the news media at the union鈥檚 Representative Assembly in 1998.
鈥擝iken Ekberzade/AP-File
1999
Sandra Feldman, the president of the AFT, encourages the use of 鈥渢hin contracts,鈥� an idea informed by a book by consultant Julia E. Koppich and others.
American Federation of Teachers President Sandra Feldman, center, rallies with Detroit union members during a 1999 strike.
鈥擯aul Warner/AP-File
2005
With a voter-approved tax levy and a pilot program under its belt, the Denver district and its teachers鈥� union begin the ProComp differentiated-pay initiative.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper campaigns for measures on the election ballot that asked voters to give up tax refunds over five years that would go to schools, health care, and infrastructure.
鈥擠avid Zalubowski/AP-File
2008
The AFT passes a resolution calling on all affiliates to explore peer review.
2009
The New Haven Federation of Teachers approves a contract with its district agreeing to overhaul evaluations and set up a tiered system for intervening in low-performing schools.
The NEA debuts its Priority Schools Campaign, which supports collaboration in several school districts.
2010
The Baltimore and Pittsburgh AFT chapters sign new contracts overhauling pay and promotion systems for teachers.
2011
The U.S. Department of 91制片厂视频 sponsors the first national conference on labor-management cooperation.
Dede Schaffner, the chairwoman of the Sanford, Fla., school board, listens to a panel discussion on the positive impact of reform during a labor-management conference in Denver in February.
鈥擡d Andrieski/AP-File
Outside philanthropy has also prodded in a similar direction. At least on paper, districts receiving funding through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation鈥檚 $290 million Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching had to commit to implementing their teacher-quality plans with the support of their unions. (The Gates Foundation provides operating support to the nonprofit that publishes 91制片厂视频 Week, and has supported both national unions.)
As a national school improvement strategy, however, the idea of collaboration remains somewhat undefined, and it is only starting to gain a foothold in policy circles.
There are some big hurdles to overcome, including the application of the concept of collaboration in right-to-work states where teachers have no formal bargaining; in states like California and Michigan, where union chapters have traditionally resisted the idea; and in states such as Idaho and Wisconsin, where legislative changes have profoundly altered the union-management dynamic.
There have also been plenty of detractors of the concept. Michelle A. Rhee, a former chancellor of the District of Columbia schools, famously called collaboration 鈥渙verrated.鈥�
On the other hand, prominent supporters like Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, argue that few, if any, efforts to improve schools and make sustainable changes to the teaching profession are likely to succeed without the participation of teachers and unions. She remains probably the highest-profile figure endorsing the concept of labor-management collaboration, and has made it a priority since assuming the top job at the 1.5 million-member union in 2008.
Particularly in times of tight school budgets, cooperation is needed, Ms. Weingarten said.
鈥淲e have to do more with less. It鈥檚 the right strategy,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 only the people who don鈥檛 understand schools who think these partnerships are a political strategy, not an education strategy.鈥�
Perhaps the biggest vote of confidence has come from the U.S. Department of 91制片厂视频. In February, the agency sponsored the first-ever national conference on labor-management collaboration, with support from both unions and groups representing administrators.
鈥淚t was obviously just a starting point, but I thought it was really helpful to catalyze the conversation, creating the space to do it and letting folks know how important we thought it was,鈥� U.S. Secretary of 91制片厂视频 Arne Duncan said in an interview. 鈥淚 definitely hope and expect it will continue to grow.鈥�
This special report from 91制片厂视频 Week profiles three districts that have begun joint projects to reform teaching and learning. The efforts in those places have evolved to different degrees and with varied aims, contexts, results, and lessons learned so far. And the report probes new wrinkles to the debate鈥攍ike those surrounding the use of 鈥渧alue added鈥� test-score data.
For all its perceived novelty, the idea of labor-management collaboration itself is not actually new. Scaling up early adaptors of the concept, however, has proved to be a challenge.
When then-NEA President Bob Chase spoke in 1997 of the 鈥渘ew unionism,鈥� in which unions would advance changes to the teaching profession, for instance, the idea made little headway with rank-and-file members. It wasn鈥檛 even particularly well received among the union鈥檚 staff or board of directors, according to sources.
Districts, too, have historically been unwilling to share or apportion some duties traditionally under their purview, such as teacher evaluation, with unions.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been this kind of rigidity set in place by management, by these bureaucracies. And the teachers鈥� unions build these systems of defense in response,鈥� said Jo Anderson Jr., a senior adviser to Secretary Duncan.
A former executive director of the Illinois 91制片厂视频 Association, Mr. Anderson credited the 91制片厂视频 Department鈥檚 federal competitions, such as Race to the Top, with helping to 鈥渦nstick鈥� such relationships. Indeed, some state unions, in Delaware, Illinois, and Massachusetts, for example, have worked together to revamp evaluation and tenure in response to those competitions.
But the 91制片厂视频 Department鈥檚 efforts have not come without some mixed messaging, some observers say.
鈥淟ots of good things have come from the Obama administration on education, but also a lot of things that are barely distinguishable from鈥攁nd some that worsened鈥攖he position of the previous administration. And that is very frustrating to teachers,鈥� said Adam Urbanski, the head of the Rochester, N.Y. teachers鈥� union and a founder of the Teachers Union Reform Network, which seeks to engage locals in plans to improve student achievement.
Unions, for instance, were furious when Mr. Duncan and President Barack Obama spoke in support of the firing of teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, under the administration鈥檚 School Improvement Grant program.
Defining Collaboration
Some observers criticize the very nature of the concept of labor-management collaboration. They note that teachers鈥� unions have legal obligations to represent members鈥� interests, whether or not they accord with those of students鈥攐r for that matter, administrators.
鈥淒emocrats tend to have this fanciful belief in collaboration. That way, they can have their cake and eat it, too. You can have education reform and you can have powerful unions,鈥� said Terry M. Moe, a political science professor at Stanford and the author of a new book, Special Interest, that asserts unions have blocked many reforms.
Although he acknowledges that some unions have successfully worked in partnership with administrators, he argues they have done so to avoid more-radical changes to the education system.
鈥淵es, you can make some progress [through collaboration] if you鈥檙e satisfied with incremental gains that will not take you across the goal line,鈥� Mr. Moe said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not satisfied with that, and I don鈥檛 think reformers should be.鈥�
Even for those who believe in the power of the concept, a sticking point has always been how to define and measure the collaborative enterprise.
In a 1997 volume, United Mind Workers, Julia E. Koppich, Charles Taylor Kerchner, and Joseph G. Weeres concluded that true collaboration is defined by unions and districts jointly addressing a problem affecting the quality of instruction: a poor evaluation system, high turnover at low-performing schools, or a budget crunch, for instance.
The book went on to propose a shift toward thinner districtwide contracts, with individual compacts created for each school in which details and responsibilities of the parties are defined.
鈥淐ollaboration has to be grounded in doing things differently, having different kinds of agreements,鈥� said Ms. Koppich, a consultant. 鈥淭here has to be a commitment to take on tough issues and flesh them out together. If all unions and districts take on with collaboration is not to yell at each other, they will accomplish nothing.鈥�
For a process that ends with commitment to specific strategies, it often begins with intangibles.
鈥淢y personal opinion is that it鈥檚 all based on relationships, and trust, and communication,鈥� said Jim Hogeboom, the superintendent of the Lucia Mar school district, in California. The district recently used the collective bargaining process to bring a comprehensive school reform model to a handful of schools.
Winning Converts
Especially in its early phases, finding a new groove in the labor-management relationship can be uncomfortable. For one, the strength of the endeavor depends on being clear-eyed about the role of one鈥檚 counterpart, including the pressures put on that counterpart by internal constituencies.
鈥淎s a union leader, you have to understand that the superintendent has a school board he has to satisfy, and if he can鈥檛 satisfy them, he鈥檚 no help to you,鈥� said Joan Devlin, a senior associate of educational issues at the AFT. 鈥淎nd the head of the district has to understand that the union president has to take care of his or her members, that there are some basic expectations for that in the law, and that you鈥檝e got to be able on occasion to pound on the table, because folks expect it.鈥�
It鈥檚 clear that context matters, too. Value-added data purporting to isolate teachers鈥� effectiveness at raising students鈥� scores became a lot scarier after The Los Angeles Times posted individual teachers鈥� ratings on its website. School turnaround reform in New Haven, Conn., was challenging, recalled New Haven Federation of Teachers President David Cicarella, because 鈥渢eachers look around and see Central Falls.鈥�
And recently, the budget crunches that many states and districts face have added a new variable to the equation, as a recent occurrence in Pittsburgh illuminates.
The district and union there are implementing a new contract that overhauls the pay scale and an ambitious teacher-policy reform plan funded by the Gates Foundation. But this past summer, they hit a bump over the details of a new teacher-residency program for preparing teachers. The district鈥檚 seniority-based layoff policy meant that most of those new teachers would be let go, and the two parties weren鈥檛 able to come to an accord to shelter teachers to be trained in the program from that rule.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean that we aren鈥檛 talking to each other any more,鈥� said Superintendent Linda Lane, in an interview at the time. 鈥淔iscal issues make collaboration more difficult. They simply do. Sometimes choices have to be made you鈥檙e not going to agree on. But we still have a commitment to do what we need to do for children.鈥�
She and the teachers鈥� union later altered the plan to create an induction program for existing novices.
Observers are waiting to see whether the recent flourishing of collaborative activity will continue to wax, or whether it will begin to wane.
Ms. Koppich believes that it could go either way: Tough times and legislative change could cause the two parties to hunker down鈥攐r provide the impetus to begin a new kind of relationship, she says.
Mr. Urbanski, for one, holds out hope. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e in the same boat, it doesn鈥檛 matter which end leaks,"he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know of anyone I could respect who would argue that schools and public education can be changed substantially by any single constituency alone. I think it鈥檚 hard enough even when we all pull together, and I know we鈥檙e dead in the water if we don鈥檛.鈥�
For the union and district in Springfield, the breakthrough has been made.
The two sides, anxious to begin implementing a new state-required teacher-evaluation system, are awaiting guidance from the state education department and NEA chapter on details such as the observation measures to be used. But they鈥檝e already come to some preliminary agreements about how to transition teachers from a 3- to a 4-point evaluation scale.
Were the relationship between the district and union not as firm, Mr. Ingram said, 鈥渨e would still be at the table at an impasse.鈥�
