In what is believed to be a first for the growing California charter school movement, managers at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy have unilaterally shut down face-to-face negotiations with teachers over the school's first collective bargaining agreement.

 

Impasse was declared on May 18. The Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) has since notified the Camino Nuevo Teachers Association (CNTA) and school management that a state mediator will be assigned to assist with negotiations.

 

CNTA President Kate O'Brien, a longtime teacher at the school, expresses disappointment and concern that the school's management has refused to negotiate further. "We were still putting proposals on the table and felt there was opportunity for agreement in many areas. On May 18, we were given a proposal, and when we didn't agree to all of it, they suddenly declared impasse and canceled our remaining three bargaining dates."

 

Managers at the charter school promote the school as a progressive alternative for students in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, but were unwilling to negotiate on basic employee rights in a meaningful way.

 

Teachers at the school work under "at will" contracts, meaning they can be released at any time. In fact, this year several teachers with good evaluations were not asked to return because, according to management, they weren't "good fits."

 

"The teachers understand that charter schools work differently, and we came here because of that," says O'Brien. "We love this school and the community, which is why we are advocating so hard for better working conditions. We can only benefit the students by making long-term commitments to their education. When teachers are not afforded basic due process rights and fear being fired for no reason, the ones who suffer most are the students and families that we serve."

 

Camino Nuevo has been opposed to the union organizing effort from the beginning and has continued to be intransigent during the bargaining process. The school even refused to put a non-discrimination clause in the contract. Teachers have now started to question the forces behind the anti-union/anti-teacher agenda at the school. Camino Nuevo has corporate supporters, which may be influencing the anti-union stance at the school. The chair of the school's board of directors has made no secret of his concern about supporting unionized charter schools.

 

"We formed our union in the spirit of our charter - to be equal partners in our students' success," says CNTA bargaining spokesperson Martha Jean. "Their stubbornness at the bargaining table undermines the mission of our school. Other charter school teachers have achieved fair contracts through collective bargaining. What are they afraid of here?"

 

At press time, teachers were planning a rally to let school leaders and other charter school observers know that "innovation in education does not mean throwing employee rights out the window."