Stephen’s Thoughts On… Organized Labor

EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the campaign I write about topics important to Atlanta Public Schools. The fourth of this “Stephen’s Thoughts” series is a reflection on Labor Day.

Today I got a chance to join the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council for lunch and was asked several times about my relationship with teachers unions. It had me thinking back and realized that I’ve been advocating for protecting and improving the teaching profession for over a decade now in a professional capacity. In honor of Labor Day I’d like to quickly walk you through some of this work and end with a note on how I can continue it once I’m on the Atlanta Public School Board.

In 2015, while an education data and policy analyst at the Georgia Department of Education, I authored a report on a survey of teachers in the state that garnered over 53,000 responses. The report, “Georgia’s Teacher Dropout Crisis,” was used to make improvements to the profession including lessening the impact of standardized tests in the classroom and on teacher evaluations. You can find an article summarizing the report here (GaDOE has taken down the PDF). I personally presented the findings to the Georgia State Board of Education.

While the Education Director for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, I lobbied at the statehouse for higher teacher pay, bolstering the profession in hard-to-staff schools, and support for the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia. I’ve worked closely with representatives from the Georgia Federation of Teachers, Georgia Association of Educators and Professional Association of Georgia Educators.

I’m convinced that if you’re committed to excellent education made available for all students, then you would be hard-pressed to find a better partner than the teachers unions (or associations, ugh) of Georgia. The fact is, much of the gains in education the past few decades—and there have been many—come because of increased state education funding. Teachers unions have been a key driver of that funding and not just for their own wages. It also lifts pay for paraprofessionals, bus drivers and monitors, maintenance and cafeteria workers, janitors, etc.

Now what does that conviction mean for the school board? First, we have to protect and increase the wages of our educators, and I’m including in that description all the adults who make our schools run. Teachers can’t guide our students if bus drivers are so underpaid that we have shortages, for example. Also kids learn a lot from their bus drivers, believe me. Second, I will ensure that teachers have a meaningful voice in the direction of our district. In that survey I mentioned earlier, the lack of input on school decisions ranked higher than pay for a reason that so many teachers were leaving the classroom. Finally, we have to find and support strong school building leaders that can invest in our educators. From my experience there is no better way to push good teachers out than to teach under a struggling principal.

Happy Labor Day to you all, and thanks to the work of unions that have helped protect students rights to education in Georgia.

Best,

Stephen