Teachers at D.C.’s only unionized charter school sign a contract, a first for the city - The Washington Post

Teachers at D.C.’s only unionized charter school sign a contract, a first for the city - The Washington Post

Teachers at D.C.’s only unionized charter school sign a contract, a first for the city

Teachers and staff members at Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School are nearing a historic moment: They’re a vote away from settling with their bosses on a union contract, the first time that has happened at a D.C. charter school.

Workers at the popular language immersion charter school in Northwest Washington formed the D.C. charter sector’s only union in July. Another school, Chavez Prep Middle, formed a union in 2018, but negotiations stalled and school leaders shut down the campus before reaching a labor agreement with educators.

Charter schools are publicly funded and privately run, and unlike the traditional public school system, their teachers are not typically unionized. But across the country, teachers at a relatively small but growing number of charter campuses are organizing.

D.C.’s only unionized charter school filed another federal complaint — this time as its campus is shutting down.

Many leaders of the charter school movement oppose unionization, believing it results in the same bureaucratic thicket that charter schools were created to escape.

But union leaders view the Mundo Verde contract as a significant win and hope it serves as a model for educators at other schools who hope to unionize.

“D.C. has been a petri dish for all of the different kinds of structures of educating children,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “You now not only have a blueprint for D.C. schools, but for thousands of schools around the country.”

The American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers union, represents the union CONTINUE READING: Teachers at D.C.’s only unionized charter school sign a contract, a first for the city - The Washington Post