Union Election Could Shape D.C. Ed. Reform's Future
Last week, the American Federation of Teachers released results from the internal Washington Teachers' Union election, in which four candidates were vying to run the roughly 4,000-member D.C. affiliate.
You'd be forgiven for expecting a high degree of turnout given all the attention that D.C. has received in the press, but you'd be wrong: A surprisingly low number of teachers voted, just over 20 percent of the teaching force. The outcome was very close, with current WTU Vice President Nathan Saunders' slate coming out 21 votes ahead of incumbent President George Parker. A runoff commences this month with the results due out in early December.
The low turnout doesn't make the stakes any less high for the D.C. school system, though. The winner of this election will be working with interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson on the continuing implementation of the district's teacher contract, including the new IMPACT Plus performance-bonus system. And he'll have the