By David Mielke
[Editor’s Note: “Supt. Dave LaRose and I are off to New York next week for a conference/training for supes and local presidents,” Mr. Mielke said in a preliminary note yesterday. Below, the president of the Teachers Union explains.]
Our national organization, the American Federation of Teachers, has been encouraging local unions, if they have enlightened management, to develop real, meaningful, collaborative partnerships – since we all are in the same business of providing a great education to our kids.
I started this process two superintendents ago, inviting Myrna Rivera Cote to a two-day training on this. That partnership never really got off the ground and then she left. Next I went to Patti Jaffe. She was enthusiastic. Joan Devlin of the AFT flew out from Washington D. C. We started setting the table. Then she retired.
I go away for the summer. But before I left two years ago, I wrote a “Dear New Superintendent, Whomever You Are” for the new supe, explaining that he was my last hope!
To make the long story short, Dave LaRose and I, along with Debbie Hamme from the Assn. of Classified Employees, Audrey Stephens from the Management Assn., Nancy Goldberg from the School Board and Asst. Supt. Leslie Lockhart, all have gone twice for training put on by the ABC Federation of Teachers and the ABC Unified School District in southern L.A. County.
Dave LaRose and I are continuing that training in New York City next week.
Research shows that real labor/management collaborative partnerships result in much higher employee morale, but more importantly, real gains in student achievement.
Saul Rubinstein at Rutgers University has followed several districts, nationwide that have developed these kinds of partnerships. He has found that the partnership factor is almost as strong a factor as is poverty, which of course is the No. 1 factor in student achievement.
This dovetails perfectly with Dave LaRose’s vision of a school district where all the stakeholders work collaboratively for student success.
Mr. Mielke may be contacted at davidmielke@ccusd.org
