Durham Association of Educators, DPS at standstill over union-like ‘seat at the table’
The Durham Association of Educators and the school system remain deadlocked in a fight over giving the association a more formal role in district decision making.
The impasse began in December, the DAE says, after the school board failed to adopt a Meet & Confer proposal that would treat the association like a union with negotiating power..
On Tuesday evening, more than 100 educators and supporters rallied outside the DPS Staff Development Center to continue advocating for workers’ rights and to meet with Superintendent Anthony Lewis.
“Some of our school board members have been hesitant to want to pass our policy because they wanted to know that Dr. Lewis was accepting of the policy, and there were also concerns about the legality of the policy,” DAE President Mika Twietmeyer, a Riverside High School science teacher, said in a phone interview.
“We invited [Lewis] and told him that we were going to bring our lawyers but that we’re not going to meet in private any longer to hash out the details of the policy,” she said.
Twietmeyer said Lewis spoke at the rally about the Meet & Confer policy. He became superintendent in August after Pascal Mubenga resigned last February when the school system withdrew raises for classified workers after it mistakenly overpaid workers.
In a statement, Lewis said his priority is DPS’s 31,000 students and 5,000 employees.
“It is my hope that we will continue our discussion regarding the Meet & Confer process and decide collaboratively how best to move forward,” he said. “However, the only way we will get there is through true collaboration and ensuring that workers have a voice at the table with administration, because that’s the objective of a policy such as this.”
Lewis said having a “worker voice in district decision-making is non-negotiable.”
“Our goal — which differs from DAE — is to adopt a policy that serves the entire Durham Public Schools employee community in the most inclusive, efficient, and effective way possible so that we can, in turn, serve our students,” Lewis said.
“And that includes the Durham Association of Educators because they are part of our DPS community,” he continued. “It is necessary to create a framework that allows us to engage meaningfully with educators and staff regardless of their affiliation or membership status. Your value as an employee is not predicated on your association with any organization or group.”
Twietmeyer said that after Tuesday, it is clear that Lewis “is not supportive of recognizing the union and not agreeing to meeting with us publicly.”
So far, three school board members — Emily Chávez, Joy Harrell Goff, and Jessica Carda Auten — have voiced support for DAE’s latest version of the policy. They spoke at the rally.
“It is more critical than ever that we are actively working to support, not stifle, our labor unions,” Carda Auten said at the rally. “We are working towards a culture of transparency and we’re working to rebuild trust after what I think we can all acknowledge has been an incredibly challenging year.”
Twietmeyer said the hope is that a fourth school board member will support the policy.
What do the educators propose?
In its proposal, DAE requests the school system fairly compensate teachers and staff and ensure no errors in future paychecks.
“Public school workers are overworked and underpaid,” the document states. “We are in a vacancy and staff turnover crisis that is creating even more work for the rest of us and is making it impossible to meet students’ needs.”
The requests include a twice-monthly paycheck option, collaboration with staff to define job contract descriptions, full restoration of Master’s degree pay, and equitable leave time and sick time policies. DAE is also asking for:
Full bus service five days a week for all DPS students
More mental health services and behavioral support staff and social workers
More instructional assistants in K-5 classrooms
No collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Adequate cleaning supplies for custodial staff
Safe temperatures in all schools
Safe and inclusive playgrounds for students
The next DPS school board meeting is Thursday at 6:30 p.m.