Charter School of Wilmington educators vote to join Delaware State Education Association

Educators at the Charter School of Wilmington voted last week to join the Delaware State Education Association, which will make it the only charter school in the state to be part of a union.

DSEA, which represents more than 12,000 teachers, specialists and education support professionals, confirmed Monday that educators at the charter school recently approached the organization and asked for help organizing. With an enrollment of 971 students, Charter School of Wilmington employs 57 instructional staff members, according to the state Education Department.

An election on whether or not to unionize was held Thursday night and the needed majority voted "yes," DSEA confirmed.

At this point, it is unclear why the educators wanted to unionize or by how large a margin the vote was successful.

In a statement, CSW President Sam Paoli did not respond to questions about why teachers might want union representation but said he will respect the outcome of the vote.

"While we do not think the choice was best for the school and its stakeholders, we remain committed to ensuring that CSW continues its legacy of academic rigor and remaining the best high school in Delaware," he said. "To that end, we are focused on bringing the CSW community together in a unified effort to foster the culture of inclusiveness, excellence and, achievement that our students and parents expect and perpetuate."

By and large, very few charter schools in the United States voluntarily unionize, and historically not many in Delaware have. Postive Outcomes in Camden joined a union in 1997, but left in 2000, according to News Journal Archives.

The Delaware College Preparatory Academy in Wilmington also voted to join DSEA in 2012, making it the only charter school to be represented by the union at the time. Teachers approved the move by an 11-5 margin and said they were looking for a more collaborative and jovial environment, according to News Journal archives.

The school closed in 2015 amid declining enrollment and financial problems.

In the 2016-17 school year, 11.3 percent of the nation's charter schools belonged to a union, according to a report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Of those, 415 out of 781, or 53 percent, were bound by state law or district policy to existing collective bargaining agreements. Charter schools are not required to join bargaining agreements or unions.

The majority of unionized charter schools continue to be affiliated with the National Education Association, or NEA, the largest teachers’ union in the country and DSEA's parent organization.

Yet, NEA has sharply denounced charter schools with one exception: charter schools that are authorized and held accountable by public school districts, such as the Charter School of Wilmington. It is overseen by the Red Clay Consolidated School District.

The union discussion has been ongoing at Charter School of Wilmington. In a May 2017 letter to staff, Paoli and the school's board questioned whether or not DSEA had charter school educators' best interests at heart.

Paoli and the school's board said joining DSEA could hinder the school in its quest for academic excellence. Their letter to staff also warns that union dues or "budgetary changes resulting from additional expenses to the school that would inevitably follow unionization" may result in teachers getting paid less.

"Regrettably, DSEA has a long history of opposing charter school efforts, and your dues would be used to support their anti-charter school agenda," the letter says. "There is a reason that no charter school in Delaware is part of the DSEA, and we believe it is in your best interest to keep it that way."

In a separate document, titled "Top ten reasons why DSEA is not the answer," teachers are encouraged to vote "no union."

No. 5 on the list says "No matter what the DSEA says, they cannot guarantee you job security — only you can do that!" No. 10 says: "You don’t need a third party to do your talking for you."

Paoli said Monday: "The documents were sent by CSW as part of a broader campaign waged by both sides."

Metadata shows the second file was authored by Allison L. Feldstein, a labor attorney at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, which Charter School of Wilmington has contracted with for legal services for a number of years, according to Delaware Open Checkbook, an online ledger of purchases made by state agencies and schools.

Charter school advocates say unionization can cost schools flexibility in how they do scheduling, professional development, teacher evaluations, pay and dismissals. For instance, charter schools that don't have collective bargaining agreements can more easily replace staff that isn't performing well.

Kendall Massett, executive director of the nonprofit Delaware Charter Schools Network, has said in the past that it is charter schools' flexibility that makes them successful.

On Monday, however, she released only a short statement on the vote.

"The Charter School of Wilmington is the top rated school in Delaware and has been listed among the top 100 schools in the country," she said. "That’s still the most important story of CSW today, and it’s true because everyone at this school is focused on what’s best for the kids. This vote doesn't change that."

May 17 letter

DSEA is not the answer

Unionized charter schools, 2016-17

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.

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