DPS teachers close to securing new contract freep.com Detroit Free Press:
"This is not a typo: The Detroit Federation of Teachers is close to forging a new contract with the Detroit Public Schools that would include peer review and merit pay.
Getting either in place would be a major accomplishment in a district where both concepts have long been anathema. Getting both would be a sign that the district's teachers are truly embracing reform, and understand that it can't happen without them.So congrats are in order for the two leaders involved here: emergency financial manager Robert Bobb and DFT President Keith Johnson."
Just a few months ago, Bobb saw union trouble on the horizon. He needed major concessions from teachers to continue his fight to balance the district's books. And for long-needed educational progress, he needed the unions to accept some modifications to the current tenure provisions, which, in the harshest terms, protect bad teachers from consequence.
But Bobb didn't wage a big, public anti-union campaign. In fact, it's difficult to recall him ever disparaging the unions. Instead, he stayed at the bargaining table, extended the contract after he hit an expiration deadline, and worked to get what he needed.
"This is not a typo: The Detroit Federation of Teachers is close to forging a new contract with the Detroit Public Schools that would include peer review and merit pay.
Getting either in place would be a major accomplishment in a district where both concepts have long been anathema. Getting both would be a sign that the district's teachers are truly embracing reform, and understand that it can't happen without them.So congrats are in order for the two leaders involved here: emergency financial manager Robert Bobb and DFT President Keith Johnson."
Just a few months ago, Bobb saw union trouble on the horizon. He needed major concessions from teachers to continue his fight to balance the district's books. And for long-needed educational progress, he needed the unions to accept some modifications to the current tenure provisions, which, in the harshest terms, protect bad teachers from consequence.
But Bobb didn't wage a big, public anti-union campaign. In fact, it's difficult to recall him ever disparaging the unions. Instead, he stayed at the bargaining table, extended the contract after he hit an expiration deadline, and worked to get what he needed.