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Relationship of teacher's union and BOE

Posted by Michelle Lyon on October 17, 2018 at 10:03am

Hi,

I am curious to know if other boards engage directly with their teacher's union (or any of the other unions) on a regular basis?  I have been on our board for 10 years and this is my third year as president and I have not had a union reach out to the board to request quarterly meetings until today.  The unions have always worked through the superintendent which I thought was regular practice but am not questioning that.  Thanks in advance for input to this question.

Michelle

 

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Replies

  • Tricia Connor Biles April 24, 2020 at 5:14pm
    This is great info to read- I appreciate everyone's insights. Our superintendent is vehemently against any communication between the union and the board. Suspicions run high that she will be undermined. I am working hard to ease that fear and maintain a collaborative and professional relationship with all leaders.
  • Antoinette Darden-Cintron April 17, 2020 at 11:37am
    Also, we do not discussion contracts at all. We more talk about the support of staff. How's the overall environment? We discuss joint opportunities for collaboration to build better relations. We had planned before COVID to host a join celebration for district staff.
  • Antoinette Darden-Cintron April 17, 2020 at 11:33am
    Hi

    The unions mostly have communicated through the Superintendent. But this year's teacher's union leadership proposed meeting with Board leadership to have direct connection. The thought was why have their voice relayed to the Board when positive relations can be developed directly. I agreed and it is working. My vice president and I meet for an half hour prior to our regular Board meeting.
  • David Badanes April 10, 2020 at 10:25am
    I agree with Pan DeFord's statement, "don't let the Superintendent tell you what you can and can not do." Remember, the Board hires the Superintendent and is its "boss.". Furthermore, I find more discussion is usually better.
  • Laura Ferone March 2, 2020 at 1:21pm
    Hi all, we used to mert quarterly with teachers union however the superintendent was always part of the dialogue. I think its critical to make sure everyone understands their roles. We had an issue where the union leadership took advantage and started bypassing the superintendent and going straight to the board. Also some members will misuse the opportunity to just complain. Now, the teachers union leadership has changed for the better. We no longer meet however the union knows we are available to meet if there is an issue that we need to solve together but the superintendent is always included. Regular meetings can even unintentionally undermine the superintendent's authority. We fo however discuss all major initiatives with our union leaders. Hope this helps. Laura
  • Paul Farfaglia February 28, 2020 at 8:42am
    Our board members do have occasional contact with the union leadership when they reach out. Most of us have a level of discomfort with this however this had been part of the culture for decades. Those of us who are in contact make a point to communicate any conversations to the whole board and the superintendent. While I don't think it is necessarily a bad practice I think it walks a fine line and it requires trust. The union has a strong board endorsement practice that makes this complicated. Historically, board members who are not endorsed usually do not prevail in elections.
  • Bill Grau February 21, 2020 at 2:39pm
    Our board has a negotiations committee with two members on it. No BOE member has direct contact with the union outside of that committee. You need to be careful about meeting with the union and what is discussed. You cannot talk with them about their contract or any type of negotiation unless there has been a formal declaration of negotiations.
  • Matt Nolin February 18, 2020 at 10:56am
    I know I'm pulling this question back out from a couple of years ago but I had a similar one. Did you ever get any answers or pursue anything here Michelle?

    We have a couple board members who are interested in possibly reaching out to the unions directly to get feedback on the superintendent, district, hear any concerns about morale or other things, how we can best improve things, etc. This is primarily due to the fact that a couple of board members are hearing feedback from some staff that they are not hearing from the superintendent. It's tough to say if there are any significant issues or not without finding out more information. I'm wary of overstepping our bounds as a board but also recognize that it makes it tough for us to evaluate the superintendent if some board members are getting conflicting information.
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