From the St. Louis/Southern Illiois Labor Tribune:
By TIM ROWDEN
Editor-in-Chief
St. Louis – Still fighting for a
first contract, educators from KIPP St. Louis High School, represented
by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 420, attempted to deliver
a petition Feb. 22 to district leaders outlining their key concerns as
contract negotiations drag on.
Officials at the district headquarters at 1310 Papin St.
in downtown St. Louis refused to accept the petition but did agree,
earlier in the day, to return to the bargaining table with union
members.
Teachers and staff at KIPP High School organized in
December of 2022. It took KIPP administrators seven months to come to
the bargaining table, but after five months of on-and-off negotiations,
bargaining had all but ground to a halt.
Now teachers and staff are calling on administrators to work collaboratively to improve the educational experience for students.
“We
are dedicated to providing our students with the high-quality education
they deserve,” said Nate Gibson, a KIPP history teacher and member of
the bargaining team. “However, we face significant challenges in
achieving this goal without a stable and empowered staff. We believe
that by working together with district leaders, we can find solutions
that address our concerns and create a thriving learning environment for
all.”
THE PETITION
The petition, signed by a majority of the school’s teachers, emphasizes three main areas of concern:
- A Safe and Stable Learning Environment.
The petition highlights the importance of a consistent and structured
learning environment for students. It emphasizes the challenges created
by high staff turnover at the charter high school and calls for
solutions that ensure stability and continuity for students.
- Educator Voice and Decision-Making. Educators
seek greater involvement in shaping the school environment, including
curriculum, programming, safety protocols and professional development
opportunities. They believe that their expertise and insights are
essential for creating and effective and thriving school community.
- Compensation and Working Conditions.
The petition calls out the disparities in compensation and
working-hours between KIPP and other schools in the area. Educators
believe that addressing these disparities is crucial for attracting and
recruiting qualified staff, ultimately benefitting students.
HIGH TURNOVER
“The school is suffering a 50 percent turnover rate
that prevents the teachers from meeting the students’ needs,” said AFT
Organizer Ben Harmon.
“A lot of times people look at this as just the teachers
issues, but teachers didn’t become teachers to become wealthy. They care
about what they do, and students needs are teachers’ needs. If the
teachers needs can’t be met how do we meet the students’ needs?”
A REASON FOR TEACHERS TO STAY
“We need a contract,” said Kurt Johnson, an English teacher at KIPP.
“Too many teachers and staff members are leaving. It’s creating a
situation that’s unsafe, because it’s creating too much teacher
turnover. That’s unsafe for teachers and students. It’s not allowing us
to do what we want to do, which is to create an environment where all of
our students learn. We need to see movement on this contract.”
Johnson said teachers and prospective
employees need a reason to stay, Johnson said and that starts with being
competitive with the school districts surrounding the high school.
“At the beginning of the year we had multiple people leave
for St. Louis Public Schools because they could make more money. We
just don’t have anything to counter that and it’s creating a situation
where the students don’t have enough certified teachers.
“For the first semester, I think there were two 10th grade
certified teachers that made it through the whole semester. That’s only
two subjects where students are getting certified teachers. They have
seven periods a day. They’re taking these online classes for essential
courses like math and science because there’s no teacher. To me, the
problem is really about our students. It’s about being able to provide
an education and make sure that we have a competitive offer for teachers
to stay.”
AN UNSAFE ENVIRONMENT
Adelina Blood, who teaches English as a second language, started at KIPP in August of last year.
“Since
then, in a semester and a half, there’s already been 10 teachers
leave,” she said “That’s really unstable for not only the school but the
education of the students. It creates an unsafe environment to have
that many new teachers come in who don’t know the students and how the
school works. What we’re trying to do is stabilize everything. We’re
trying to make sure that we also have a voice and we can be listened to.
We’re trying to make sure that we get heard and that the students get
the best education that they can.”
NOT BARGAINING IN GOOD FAITH
Leonette White-Hilliard, a member of the teachers’ bargaining
committee, said KIPP administrators are not bargaining in good faith.
“We’ve tried to meet in good faith,” she said “But
they’re not really, honestly trying to come to a conclusion with the
bargaining. Some things I thought would be fairly common sense, like a
third party arbitrator deciding any
disputes. We’re still at loggerheads after a year over even something
that simple. That would be a protection for both the school as well as
the teachers. That would be something that protects everybody.
“It makes me as an individual question is this really good faith or are they hoping this problem with go away?”