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‘We all care about the kids’

In Austin, Texas, local affiliates of NEA and AFT unite, become stronger, and attract lots of new members.

Education Austin Co-Presidents Brenda Urps, Louis Malfaro, and Julie Bowman.

Competition among “service providers” has yielded appealing choices in long-distance calling and airline travel. But not, apparently, in union representation for the 9,500 school employees of Austin, Texas.

Until last spring, a large majority of Austin teachers and education support personnel stayed uncommitted while NEA and American Federation of Teachers local affiliates fought to win their hearts and minds.

You almost couldn’t blame folks for sitting back as NEA Association reps and AFT building reps competed for their allegiance. Aside from some joint work on school board elections, the two organizations “spent years battling for membership,” recalls special education teacher Brenda Urps, former president of the NEA local affiliate in Austin.

“A lot of times,” adds Urps, “the administration would use this rivalry to divide us, and all that fighting took time away from dealing with the quality of education.”

Sick of the squabbling, the district’s NEA and AFT members voted last summer to unite into one organization, Education Austin. EA draws on the staff talent and benefits of both national unions.

The new organization is led by three strong co-presidents, heads of the old AFT support staff unit and the NEA and AFT teacher units, “leaders who have always been respected by the district,” points out Urps, now an Education Austin co-president.

“Because we’ve combined forces,” adds Co-President and former AFT teacher leader Louis Malfaro, “members see us as more powerful and know we speak out for them. And they know we have a new superintendent who is willing to work with us.”

That perception of strength appeals to once-uncommitted educators. Some 1,200 have become first-time union members since the merger, edging Education Austin closer to its 1999-2000 target of 4,000 members.

Austin’s stars are in alignment. On the heels of a $3,000 teacher raise won by NEA and AFT lobbyists in the state legislature, Austin teachers and ESP voted in October, by respective margins of 72 percent and 92 percent, to give Education Austin exclusive “consultation” rights with the administration.

In this process, union and management can discuss and reach written agreements on issues ranging from class size and workload to pay and benefits.

Thanks to this first-ever inclusion in the consultation process, Austin support staff now have the tools to build on a 5 percent raise they gained at the beginning of the school year.

Among ESP priorities at the table, says Education Austin Co-President Julie Bowman, will be the creation of a “step schedule” with experience credit, expansion of training opportunities, and stepped-up vigilance against privatization, especially in food services.

If anybody gambled in the Austin merger, it was the support staff. Bowman, a former bus driver, notes that some of her 850 classified members initially “feared being subsumed by all those teachers and asked if classified employee issues would still be important after the merger.”

That won’t be a problem. Education support staff will coordinate with teachers on consultation talks with the district, and ESP have gained full representation in the governance of Education Austin.

The new Austin local has big plans for the future. Now in the works:

• More community outreach. Education Austin is increasing its involvement in Partners in Education, a group that matches businesses and other stakeholder groups with schools.
• Restoration of public confidence in Austin schools. “We want to collaborate with the district and community to counter negative press about our schools,” says Brenda Urps. “We want to promote and advance excellence.”
• Spreading the pride. Count on Education Austin to publicize its members’ ability to “meet the needs of this very diverse district,” says Urps.

“We have a great, committed workforce,” adds Co-President Bowman. “I’m impressed by the work of our members—the pride of custodians in their gleaming floors, the attachment of drivers to students, and the caring of cafeteria workers, who have nice things to say to kids, even when it’s 100 degrees!”

“New members ask what took us so long to merge in Austin,” notes Urps. “They said we all do the same thing and care about the same thing: the kids.”

For more information on Education Austin, visit the Web at www.educationaustin.org.

Press Clips
Lifting Spirits

From AFT’s American Teacher, January 2000:

“The merger of the AFT's Austin, Texas local with its NEA counterpart has lifted the spirits of school employees in the Texas state capital. It also has been credited with setting the stage for Education Austin’s successful bid to win exclusive consultation rights in October for the district’s 9,500 teachers and classified employees.

“‘Teachers and school support staff in Austin wanted a strong, united organization, and we've given them that in Education Austin,’ says Julie Bowman, who served as co-president of the AFT affiliate. ‘Each local's decision to merge stemmed from the spirit of cooperation that came out of the merger talks at the national level. We began working on small projects together and saw how much more effective we were when we worked together.’

“Bowman says the most challenging aspect of the merger was ‘getting beyond the myths and stereotypes that each organization had about the other’ and putting together a governance structure that would ensure that the merged union’s various constituencies had a voice in its decision making.”

Basics for Beginners
Let’s Not Get Physical

Neither current legal developments nor school district actions have fundamentally changed how teachers and support staff should relate to students.

“For many years,” the Washington Education Association reminds its members, “school employees have been aware that any physical contact with students should be avoided.”

Here are WEA’s common-sense rules to prevent false claims of sexual abuse:

• Try not to be alone with students of either gender, particularly in isolated locations.
• Avoid physical contact with a student that could be misunderstood as sexual in nature.
• Avoid any written communications with students that could be construed as personal or romantic.
• Avoid off-the-cuff comments on students’ physical appearance, or discussing personal topics that could be construed as sexual.
• If a student confides in you regarding a personal topic of a sexual nature, either invite another adult to join the conversation or immediately report the conversation in writing to a school counselor.
• If you or a colleague are accused of sexual harassment, take the charge seriously. Be sure to get competent advice before any questioning by the district or police. You have the right to Association representation in any meeting that could lead to discipline. In serious or potentially criminal cases, the Association will refer you to an attorney so that your case can be assessed.

For more information on protecting yourself from false student charges, contact your UniServ office.

Back Talk

When they say: “I don’t need a national education union to speak for me—just an independent association with cheap dues.”

Think about this: In Texas, reports Education Austin Co-President Brenda Urps, one of the largest “independents” is dominated by school administrators. “Sort of like sending your boss in to consult with other bosses,” she jokes.

“These organizations have no meaningful, effective local program,” adds EA Co-President Julie Bowman. “They rarely come to school board meetings—maybe attending two sessions a year—and do nothing for ESP. In fact, not so long ago one of these groups favored privatizing custodial services, because it thought that would mean more money for teachers!”

Facts & Figures

Getting Mighty Big
As an NEA member, you’ve got lots of company. Total NEA membership mushroomed from 2,393,042 in the 1997-98 school year to 2,458,364 in 1998-99. By summer, over 2.5 million educators will be NEA members.