Teachers' Union Is Urged to Fight Plan
No. 2 Official Fears Precedent of Move At Central Office

By Theola Labbé
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 18, 2007

A top leader in the Washington Teachers' Union has urged its executive board in a confidential memo to fight the Fenty administration plan to fire school central office employees, saying union members should immediately organize a strategy to oppose the legislation.

"We must mobilize now!" General Vice President Nathan A. Saunders wrote in a two-page letter addressed to President George Parker and copied to the 23 members of the union's executive and trustee boards. "At every opportunity we must engage Mayor [Adrian M. Fenty] and Chancellor [Michelle A.] Rhee with aggressive actions on public education as active participants."

Tuesday's letter, which The Washington Post obtained, is the first indication of where a leader of the 4,000-plus-member union stands on the proposal.

It also sets up a potential showdown between organized labor and the Fenty-Rhee team in its high-profile efforts to overhaul the 49,000-student school system, which is plagued by declining enrollment, poor test scores and dilapidated buildings.

In an interview yesterday, Saunders would not detail a strategy but said he would reach out to other labor organizations to begin planning. His letter said he has raised those issues with Parker privately, "but in light of the chancellor's recent public statements, I am compelled to advance this issue."

Fenty's legislation, submitted to the D.C. Council last week, would reclassify 754 nonunion employees as "at-will" workers, meaning they could be terminated at any time for non-disciplinary reasons because they would work at the chancellor's discretion.

At a news conference last week announcing that legislation, Rhee said she has spoken with Parker about the expired teachers contract and was looking for similar authority on poorly performing teachers.

The legislation would not affect the 180 central office unionized employees. Although the proposal would only affect only nonunion workers, Saunders said he wrote the letter because the plan sets a precedent for other government employees.

Mafara Hobson, a Rhee spokeswoman, would not comment yesterday on the letter but said the chancellor stood by her remarks last week about rewarding high-performing teachers and removing ineffective educators.

Parker said the union's executive board members frequently circulate confidential memos among each other on union issues, "and we will address this internally as we always do."

"We encourage all of our board members to express themselves openly on issues concerning our union," Parker said.

In the letter, Saunders also wrote that Parker should not hold what he called "private meetings" with Rhee to discuss the union contract, which expired Sept. 30.

Instead, the union should immediately assemble a negotiating team and agree on a platform for the contract talks, Saunders wrote.

"We must enter into formal negotiations now, as required by law, in order to protect our members' rights," Saunders wrote.

Parker said full-fledged contract talks between the school system and the union's negotiation team would begin in November and could last several months.

The union's executive membership endorsed Fenty (D) during the mayoral campaign and supported the mayor's takeover of city schools. Since the June 12 transition, Parker has enjoyed a good rapport with Rhee. He said he speaks to Rhee weekly, in person or by phone, to discuss various ongoing issues. He was among the invitees to a private screening Rhee held earlier this month of a documentary about the Ballou Senior High School band.

As the debate continues, teachers and parents wait out the changes.

Tracy Zorpette, a Ward 3 parent with children at Alice Deal Middle and Murch Elementary schools, said she supports Rhee's efforts to weed out underperforming teachers.

"The only teachers who are under siege are the poorly performing ones," said Zorpette, who closely follows education issues. "High-performing teachers have nothing to fear, and in fact, only have something to gain with the changes."