Union and District Leaders Collaborate at CalTURN
SEPTEMBER 13, 2013
The headlines concerning teachers unions and policymakers usually concern some kind of conflict, ranging from divergent positions on bills and ballot measures, to lawsuits and strikes. These stories mostly emerge at the state level, or from the larger cities and districts, which naturally have the larger media outlets to dramatize the stories. Garnering less attention are the positive stories about education reform efforts led by national and state unions. And then, in relative obscurity, there are smaller districts where district and union leaders are engaged in productive labor-management collaboration.
A team made up of district management and union leadership from ABC Unified School District presenting at the CalTURN conference in May 2013 (photo by the author).
The California Teacher Union Reform Network, or CalTURN, is helping lead the way for such districts. (Disclosure: I’m a recent addition to the CalTURN steering committee). By convening semi-annual working conferences, CalTURN provides time and space for labor-management teams to learn and together. Unlike a large conference featuring one-way delivery and delayed work, these smaller conferences include not only great speakers and presentations, but also ample opportunities to learn from colleagues around the state, and put all the learning to use in actual teamwork sessions.
District teams at the May 2013 CalTURN Conference didn’t come just to listen, but also to engage in deep conversations and collaborative work (photo by the author).
Don’t get me wrong – the member districts and unions are not living in a dream world. There are disagreements over how to use