From the AFT/Alliance Chief
Submitted by History on Mon, 07/23/2007 - 08:02.
Editorial
I work extremely hard at what I do. I believe in public education and the teachers and school employees who provide it. Bargaining and negotiating for the best deal for students, teachers and school employees in a non-collective bargaining state is very difficult.
In other places where collective bargaining is legal, employees are allowed to ratify the contract to make it binding. Not so in Texas. This creates a non-democratic environment for Dallas ISD employees that is not healthy.
Being the majority organization, elected by employees to represent them, is a great responsibility. Alliance/AFT works hard at delivering the things our members and non-members tell us are important. Loyal members of the minority organizations or members of no-organization are free to criticize us without accountability or responsibility. These organizational entities are not required or expected to deliver anything.
Finally, public education will soon be extinct if, as an institution, it does not respond to the complaints articulated by the parents of the students in our schools. They vote with their feet. They are walking out of our public schools and selecting other venues for educating their children.
In sum, public school can not remain the same. We must work at improving, changing it; making it more responsive to parents and students.
There is the old saying that we have all heard: If you keep doing what you always did, you will always get what you always got.
We can’t afford that in public education. Teachers and school employees can and must make a difference in the seed of democracy: public education.
AFT's Tactics
Oh, Aimee works hard? Yes, she does. She has had that job for a long time. So have Maureen and Harlee. They seem to rotate that job.
Yes, Aimee works hard. Her union:
1. SUPPORTED PRIVATIZATION of public schools when the Edison Project came to town. Now, why would a union support the siphoning of money to a private firm to run schools? Because they wanted to be the sole rep for all teachers in Edison schools. It was a failure, and DISD canceled the contract early.
2. Aimee supported the limitation on the number of speakers at DISD Board meetings. While other "minority" (as she calls them, 2000+ isn’t that small) unions fought it, she stated that she sympathized with Board members who have had long days and would have to listen to so many speakers....Then she uses that rule to make it look like they are muzzling her..."I am Maureen Peters. Aimee Bolender cannot speak tonight because of board policy..."
3. Aimee's group receives money for staff development from the DISD. Is that really representing teachers, if you take money from the people you will face off against in a grievance?
4. Aimee's group takes sole credit for things that all three groups work on. The CTO is useless. Aimee tries to get the other unions to NOT have representation, but the other groups have some pitbulls of their own.
5. Aimee's group gives the illusion that they work hard for you, but if your case is not a "star case," one they can gloat about, they pass on it. That's when they join the other groups.
6. Aimee's group opposed standardized dress for students when another union supported it. That union brought up school safety and anti-gang efforts. Now, you can argue the total effectiveness of it, but teachers around the district who work in schools where it is enforced, love it.
7. Aimee is a professional office holder, with no personal, accountable experience of having taught under the TAKS test. She has to perpetually take "surveys" to find out what is going on--and to give the illusion that they care.
8. Aimee works hard at trying to eliminate the competition. That is what Big Labor does.
[Ed Note: I didn't find anything in here that was objective. I realize that there's no love lost between Aimee and some others, but you've pointed out differences in philosophies. I was also under the impression that Aimee was a teacher, herself, before starting the Union.]
Aimee on Channel 8
Great shot of Aimee on Channel 8 giving those charter schools heck over stealing state money. When is she going to appear on Channel 8 suggesting that taxpayers also shut down DISD for its fraudulent practices?
Maybe she'd like to go on Channel 8 with those Pcard depositions and read the roll call of all the administrators who are still in the same positions after they "lost" their receipts for hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant, Title I, and general funds monies?
Channel 8 stated that 1 out of 6 charters has financial improprieties associated with it. You think DISD administrators and principals have better odds?
[Ed Note: I'd hope that Aimee would never go on television suggesting that DISD be shut down! The solution here is to "expose it" and "clean it up."]
There is no evidence to
There is no evidence to support the belief that collective bargaining improves public education. Yes, students and teachers with other choices are finding alternatives to provide quality, but this has nothing to do with collective bargaining or its absence.
AFT has been in Dallas for 30 years, and the quality of teachers has been declining that entire time for other reasons: financial scandals that embarrass everyone working in the district, the fact that smart women now have other career options, the churn in and out of the profession of younger teachers, and the lack of any real incentive to stay in a district with poor quality administrators and teachers.
Yes, the times they are changing, and AFT doesn't seem to be the part of any equation of the future. So what?? Other than providing lifetime employment for the same-old Harley clique, they don't accomplish anything for the core constituents.
[Ed Note: In fairness (and I'm not a fan of collective bargaining either), I don't think you can blame AFT for the financial scandals and other shenanigans. I have personally seen Aimee work to rectify some fairly serious problems for teachers (not just AFT members). So I think it's probably unfair to broadly say that she and Harley just do it for the money. Again, I (obviously) have had my issues with AFT in the past. But if you're going to blame them, then find a specific and pin it on them.]
In Defense of AFT
AFT can only do so much. It's hard for them to help teachers when the school board won't let them. Or when certain reps of AFT are good friends with those who are doing wrong.
You see it's real easy to cover up stuff when the person doing wrong has friends in high places.
That's how a certain former principal got away with stuff despite staff reporting her illegal doings to Human Resource and AFT. It seemed funny that both sides stated she did nothing wrong until this website pointed out her spending and she suddenly resigned from Dallas ISD.
They do need to step it up because I know a lot of folks that are tired of them not helping and still having to pay dues.