PHILADELPHIA – Members of the Alliance of Charter School Employees at Wakisha Charter School here have ratified a new union contract unanimously.
The contract, which is the second collective bargaining agreement at the North Philadelphia charter middle school, provides a framework for a stronger collaborative relationship between Wakisha’s Board of Directors, its administration and the 26 teachers and counselors who are represented by ACSE Local 6056.
“Wakisha’s teachers and counselors showed through this contract what union membership is all about,” said Ted Kirsch, president of AFT Pennsylvania, the union under which ACSE is organized. “The contract creates a partnership between the board, administration and staff in expanding the school and ensuring that it achieves its mission.”
The new contract includes one-percent raises in each of the three years and maintains the same, high-quality healthcare for staff. The contract contains wage and health-care reopeners, which makes the board and the staff collaborators in strengthening finances and exploring health-care cost savings during the life of the agreement.
“During eight months of negotiations, our three-person bargaining team was able to establish an enduring collaborative relationship with the administration around our mutual goal of promoting the success of our students and of our school,” said science teacher and negotiating team member Carenda Brown.
“Under the new administration, we found people who are interested in having ACSE teachers and counselors as partners in the school’s efforts to increase enrollment and help all students achieve their goals, said Antoinette Davis, a language arts teacher who also sat on the bargaining team.
The bargaining team broke new ground at the table, Davis added, by developing incentives to compensate employees who do not use all of their sick leave and by “creating a voluntary sick-leave donation program to assist colleagues facing serious illnesses. The program epitomizes what collective bargaining can and should be about.”
Wakisha’s new contract also strengthens members’ union rights by providing for more timely exchange of information and permitting after-school union meetings at the school, defining the length of the school day and year in the contract, providing daily preparation periods for teachers and collaborative time during the school day for teachers to work with learning support staff and other teachers on student learning. Wakisha teachers also will be permitted to use three professional business leave days, instead of personal leave, to attend professional conferences and meetings.
“The bargaining team is grateful for the unwavering support of our colleagues as the team worked with administration for eight months to achieve this contract, which respects teachers and as professionals and includes us in the future growth of the school,” said Shanisse Conway, a Spanish teacher and team member. “This successor contract reinforced for us all of the reasons that we chose union representation.”
Wakisha is located in North Philadelphia. Its charter provides for up to 400 students in grades six through eight. The professional staff organized the union in 2009 and won its first union contract in 2010.