Detroit teachers take battle to new level
The American Federation of Teachers could join the Detroit Federation of Teachers in a trusteeship to shore up the local union’s fight against Gov. Rick Snyder’s school reform proposal and other issues facing the district.
The AFT is calling the move to a trusteeship a “voluntary administratorship,” and it is already sparking controversy. The deal, which would include AFT organizers, communications specialists, political operatives, researchers and education policy experts, has not yet been signed.
At least one critic said the proposal for a trusteeship has nothing to do with helping Detroit teachers.
“It is a desperate move on the part of the AFT and DFT bureaucracy ... to stop Detroit teachers from waging an all-out fight against the governor’s so-called New DPS/Old DPS plan, which seeks to end public education in Detroit,” said ousted DFT President Steven Conn.
The plan is expected to be voted on by the AFT executive council either Monday or Tuesday, said retired DFT president and current AFT Vice President Keith Johnson.
The union has taken a stand against Snyder’s Detroit schools reform plans, which propose paying off millions of DPS debt and creating a new district for Detroit schoolchildren. It also has balked at increased employee health care costs and the Education Achievement Authority, the school system created by Snyder in 2011 to turn around failing Detroit schools.
In a letter to members dated Dec. 4 on the DFT website, DFT Interim President Ivy Bailey said she wrote to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten in October, saying all that the union has done to fight for educators and their schools has not been enough.
“The crisis we face is growing larger and growing closer,” wrote Bailey. “While we have reason to be proud of our engagement, we must not underestimate the resources we will need to win this fight.
“So, on Oct. 14, I wrote to President Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, our national union. In my letter, I wrote about the attacks on our healthcare benefits, the continued abuses of the emergency manager, and the harm done to our community by his unilateral decision-making. I also raised the alarm about widespread characterization and neighborhood school closures, as well as efforts by the governor and national corporate interests to privatize and take apart, piece by piece, our public school system. Then I asked for help.”
In the email, Bailey said Weingarten flew to Detroit to meet with the DFT executive board on Oct. 23. On Nov. 2, Weingarten, in a letter to Bailey, suggested “a voluntary administratorship for the DFT as the most effective way at this moment to address our challenges.”
“This voluntary administratorship would be a form of partnership between the AFT Detroit teachers take battle to new level:
