*If Any Charter School Needs a Union, It’s Urban Prep*
A former teacher weighs in on teaching and learning conditions at a Chicago charter school…
Editor’s note: A few weeks ago, I ran a post by Urban Prep teacher Dave Woo about why he and his colleagues at a Chicago charter school are organizing a union. Teachers at the school will vote on June 3rd on whether they want to be part of the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff. In the meantime, Urban Prep administrators are making the case that having a union is antithetical to the charter’s mission—which, according to one former teacher, appears to be *promoting the Urban Prep brand with an eye towards national expansion.* The teacher, whose testimony I’m sharing here, urges all of us to stand with his former Urban Prep colleagues. 
I am a former Urban Prep teacher and colleague of Dave Woo’s. Every word he says is true. Urban Prep’s slogan is *we believe.* I know for a fact that the teachers I worked with believe in their students and dedicate long, hard hours to providing them with the best possible educational experience, the administrators who operate Urban Prep seem to believe in promoting their brand with an eye toward national expansion; providing themselves with palatial offices across the street from the Trump Tower; maintaining a posse of lobbyists and consultants; and paying themselves six figure salaries.Meanwhile, primarily young and inexperienced teachers struggle to deliver a rigorous college preparatory curriculum without computers, without projectors, without textbooks and frequently, without the paper required to make copies. Teachers are *If Any Charter School Needs a Union, It’s Urban Prep* | EduShyster:
