I’m happy to present the first of an ongoing series of interviews with selected education and civic leaders in Boston.  (Karen, I echo your interest from the September column in hearing from our district and organizational leadership).  With this column, I think we’re off to a great start.  Thanks, Richard, for responding so readily to the interview request this month.

What’s the ultimate goal with these leadership interviews?

On one hand, it’s an opportunity for the larger membership to learn more about key individuals’ opinions and stances around the educational policies and issues that are currently shaping the Boston Public Schools.  And by learning more about these opinions, we as teachers in BPS can share our own thoughts and pose our own questions through ongoing, online discussion.

Perhaps more importantly though, once the conversation gets going, the hope is for district, union and other civic leaders to be responsive to these conversations, opinions and the ‘pulse’ of what we teachers are saying in our classrooms across the city.  They are our leaders, after all, and the responsibility falls on all of us to make sure they represent us well.

Let’s give it a go.

In this interview which took place on Friday October 14^th, I asked a series of questions that focused on three main areas:  1) the current climate in public education from the perspective of our union president, 2) ways to encourage more participation and engagement from teachers in the BTU and 3) thoughts on what it would take to foster a more collaborative relationship between the teachers union and the school district.

How would you describe the general climate in public education and the Boston Public Schools from your perspective as the president of the Boston Teachers Union?

I would say that the current climate is not great, and I think what precipitated that are a couple of things, including RTT (Race to the Top), the new Ed reform law, the shrinkage of the economy and the consolidation of school buildings… and the end result of all that is they become contributing factors.  The fact that we don’t have a [currently-negotiated] contract is part of this.  Regardless of what side people go to, the fact that we don’t have a contract is a hindrance, [even beyond] the facts that there is turmoil over the student assignment plan, the school closing issue, [and] the late busses [issue].  I think these are [all] symptomatic…they don’t come out of thin air.  It’s not a climate that’s conducive to taking a step back and trying to figure out which is real and which is not.

It sounds almost as if the climate is being dictated by the economic environment as much as specific policies that are being put into place.

I think that’s the overwhelming reason behind it..  I think that’s what much of the theory is being driven by in education circles in terms of what works and what doesn’t work.  [There’s] no doubt in my mind that that’s instrumental.

How would you describe the overall ‘health’ of the BTU and the engagement of the membership?

Well, every major union in the country is having what I would say are transition problems.    There’s a huge turnover in the work force.  So I don’t think that’s unique to Boston.  I think society has changed and teacher unions have changed.

What do you think we’re transitioning from and what do you think we’re transitioning to as the BTU or for unions in general?  Because I look at studies sometimes, I look at schools I’m in, I look at my own school experience and sometimes I wonder if, as you were saying, the nature of the teaching profession has changed where there isn’t an expectation that teachers stay as teachers for the length of their careers.  Does the union need to respond to that shift?

I actually think that some of this is going to go backwards.  We are going to undo some of this as things destabilize economically.  There is nothing inherently wrong with staying in the career a little longer than anticipated.  When I started teaching in 1972, I was positive I would do it for five years.  Absolutely positive.  I was going to be a mathematician.  That was my field.  And it turned out I liked teaching.  I enjoyed it and I felt I was accomplishing something.  So I stayed in it.  But I think what has changed [is that] there is more of a mobility now.  People are emboldened to do new things, try new things and can have a much wider experience than we ever did. Some of that is borne, too, by economic necessity.

I do think that when the economy improves, we’re going to bring back some more normalcy.  I also think that it’ll never be the way it was because of increased mobility.

Do you feel that  the BTU is doing a good job engaging the membership right now?

Are we trying to engage people, yes.  Have we been successful, certainly not totally.  It’s hard in a way to catch a moving target with five hundred to six hundred new hires every year; it’s very difficult.  Similarly, the school department has difficulty with catching up and hitting [this] moving target.

You’re not going to find an industry in the world, a professional industry, that has a turnover of 10% a year [like we have in public education].  You’re not going to find that with a law practice, a medical practice or an accounting firm.  10% [of employee turnover] year in and year out is very difficult to handle and it’s to the detriment of the schools.

So do you think the lack of engagement of teachers in their own professional organization is mostly because of the fact that they’re highly mobile and they haven’t had the chance to settle and have their own families?  Because I also know a number of folks whose affect is what I’d described as frustrated.  They’re frustrated about not knowing who to go to, or who to talk to.  [There’s the feeling that] the BTU [leadership] is not listening to me or asking for my opinions and thoughts about things, or I can’t go and speak here because I feel intimidated. 

What are the things that you as a president can do to reach and out and quell those fears?  Because we want to welcome people, right?

Well I don’t know if there’s a fear [or not].  I think our membership meetings are reasonably welcoming.   There’s not a quick gavel [and] we try to plan different activities that interest a variety of people.  I won’t say we do a great job of that.  I don’t think we’ve ever done a great job of that.   And from my conversations with other union leaders from around the country, everyone is grappling with the same issue.

I think one of the main issues is that people don’t have a lot of time. At the same time, the union hasn’t reached out.  [It] hasn’t kept up with the times and I think we’re playing a lot of catch up.

So what’s the strategy to do that here in Boston?

Well in Boston, we’ve done a number of things, from the social to the political.  We have a lot of younger leaders that we have tried to get involved in the BTU and we’ve tried to expand the scope [or our organizational goals] so we are more embracing.  And the difficulty is in maintaining that and growing that.  I mean I was in a meeting the other day of labor leaders and I was the youngest person there and I realized that that body, as bad as the BTU might be as far as reflecting all age groups, that body was a heck of a lot worse.  Trust me [laughing], it’s a common experience.  Not a comforting one.

We have tried with the different committees [such as] the COPE committee and the Executive Board committee.  I don’t take any false credit for this.  It’s been an uphill struggle, and we are still working on it.

If there were a way to get more people to participate, it would make us a stronger union.

The Teaching Pulse is predicated on the idea that collaboration is something that’s complex but a very possible way of going about our work in public education.  And I don’t pretend to think that it’s easy or efforts haven’t been made, but right now from my perspective and from others, the rhetoric and conversation often comes across as pretty defensive or strident.  “The superintendent is not telling the truth about this issue”, or “the superintendent fails to do such and such,” in many ways representing the other side in a negative way. 

So how would you describe the current relationship between the school district, the school committee and the teachers union?  What accounts for that?  What do you do in your role as BTU president to actively shape or dictate that relationship?

Well, we’ve had countless private conversations with the superintendent, that pretty much everything she writes that has anything to do with the BTU contract should not be written.  And vice versa—I would not rather write public statements about the ongoing negotiations..  And I suggested to her that it serves no good purpose to publically quarrel.  She has resisted that… She shouldn’t take private matters public.

I don’t think the classroom is affected directly by the day-to-day tensions.  I think people do the best job they can and if they don’t, they shouldn’t be teaching.  I don’t think there’s a dispute on that.

Now at the same time, the teachers that I represent, and I believe this to a person, they want as much as we can get for them while protecting their best interests and making sure the schools are as good as they can be.  They don’t want one or the other, they want everything.  They recognize that to do that, there has to be some… fighting.  I mean, if that weren’t the case, it would upset the whole dynamic of labor management.   That’s the way it works.

Now, no one enjoys arguing.  We don’t want to argue, we want to accomplish things.  But the things we want to accomplish [can’t be done] until we resolve [issues like contractual ones].

Would you say that the relationship between the BTU and the school district in particular is one that can’t be fixed?

I don’t think it’s impossible.  I don’t even think it’s impractical.  I just think we just go through some rough spells.  There is a schism on certain things but there’s not a schism on what’s best for the schools.

To say we don’t an opinion [about what’s best for our schools] is insulting.  We’re not going to cede total control to the district over educational decisions.  I think it’s absurd not to rely on your best source of information for good ideas.  I just think it’s totally absurd.

From what you’re saying, it’s a really important time for teachers to get involved—to get involved in the union, to speak to the district leaders, to speak for the best interest of teachers and the kids.  What’s the action plan and vision for moving forward?

To some extent, we have to continue what we’re doing and do it smarter.  I’m not going to give up trying to get more of a place at the table with the superintendent and to try and get more involved in the district work.  And I think that’s an essential.  I think if the economic and political climate were better, I think we could sway the district to be a little more embracing.

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Much food for thought, for certain.  As usual, please consider visiting the online forum at www.theteachingpulse.org to continue this conversation and weigh in from your perspective.  Have a great month and see you online!

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