Oh, how times have changed. Five years ago, the New York Times praised Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers for working with state legislatures in “developing more effective teacher evaluation systems and speeding up the glacial pace of disciplinary hearings for teachers charged with misconduct.” In an editorial the Times stated: “The unions […] More
Last week, The Lens reported that lawyers for International High School of New Orleans (IHSNO) are challenging the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) claim of jurisdiction over their school. In May, NLRB held an election at IHSNO in which a majority (26-18) of teachers voted to form a union with the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO). It […] More
It has long been clear that the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) does not work in the best interests of students. After all, LFT has been on the wrong (and losing) side of several debates over past several years. They joined with Tea Party-aligned lawmakers in an attempt to repeal Common Core. They have supported […] More
Teachers at Lusher Charter School have rejected an effort backed and funded by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) to organize the school. National Labor Relations Board officials held a secret ballot on Tuesday that asked teachers whether they wanted AFT/UTNO to serve as their exclusive bargaining representative. When […] More
Bill Murphy has spent the past 16 years as a K-12 educator. He got his start as a special education teacher in rural Louisiana. He has since worked as a teacher and special education director at a charter school in Massachusetts and as the principal of what became one of the highest-performing traditional public schools […] More
On Tuesday, teachers at Lusher Charter School will officially vote on whether to form a union. Over the past couple weeks, they have been bombarded by advocates on both sides of the debate, so I won’t belabor the points I’ve already made. However, given all the accusations flying about recently, it’s important to clear the […] More
Fourteen years ago, I moved to New Orleans to teach biology, chemistry, and environmental science at John McDonogh Senior High School. One of the first things I did when I arrived in town was head over to the old United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) headquarters to join the union. Why? Because I was bright-eyed […] More
Are union supporters trying to intimidate administrators at Lusher Charter School? That’s the question Lusher community members are asking after middle school principal Charlene Hebert’s car was vandalized outside her home in Algiers Point this week. Hebert was about to leave for work on Thursday morning when she noticed her car windshield was shattered. A […] More
Over the past few months, I’ve directed plenty of criticism towards Lusher Charter School over their opposition to the unified school funding plan. At the same time, I’ve never denied that the school provides its students with an excellent education, thanks to the hard work and dedication of its teachers and staff. Although I may […] More
The New Orleans education community was taken by surprise on Monday, when the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced that educators at Lusher Charter School had formed a union. An AFT press release on the move stated: “Educators at Lusher made public their commitment to stand together as the United Teachers of Lusher, an affiliate […] More
I’ll admit, I had a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride on Twitter on Monday. It all started when I saw this tweet, which made me angry: Hillary Clinton is planning a huge break with Obama on education: https://t.co/95vi3UPyqW pic.twitter.com/9DZAgdhWCN — Vox (@voxdotcom) November 17, 2015 However, when I saw this tweet, I was hopeful […] More
It’s been a nerve-rattling couple weeks for those of us who identify as pro-reform Democrats. It all started with Arne Duncan’s surprise announcement that he was stepping down as Secretary of Education at the end of the year. As President Obama noted, “Arne’s done more to bring our educational system — sometimes kicking and screaming […] More
Peter Cook