Teachers in Arkansas Charter Schools Can’t Join the AEA.
Teachers in Arkansas have three choices if they want to join a professional association: the Arkansas Education Association (AEA,) the Arkansas State Teachers Association (ASTA,) or the tiny Huntsville Federation of Teachers.
Of these, the AEA is the one most Arkansans know as “the union.” It has the most members, and participates most visibly in state politics. One of its local chapters (Little Rock) is even recognized for collective bargaining on behalf of district teachers — the way that unions used to work, before Arkansas let “right to work” get its foot in the door.
ASTA, by contrast, is a “company union,” designed (and funded) by the Walton family to steal members and power from the AEA. ASTA’s membership benefits are cheap window dressing, with no real community or support behind its empty promises.
HFT, bless its heart, is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT,) the most truly “badass” national teachers’ union. But they are the AFT’s only foothold in the state, and they’re not strong enough to make a statewide difference… yet…
When I taught, briefly, at Arkansas Arts Academy in 2017, I didn’t know the AEA existed. After I resigned and started blogging, several of my teacher friends pointed me to the AEA to ask questions. The AEA weren’t particularly eager to answer questions from a non-member, but they said I wasn’t eligible to join because I had already quit teaching. I had to seek answers elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the AEA has my support. Of all the education influencers in Arkansas politics, the AEA has the strongest policy positions that do the most good for the greatest number of people.
Here’s a problem with AEA, though: It doesn’t accept members who teach at public charter schools.
My first hint that AEA refuses to include charter school teachers came when I was reading the NEA’s “Code of Ethics of the Education Profession:”
In fulfillment of the obligation to the profession, the educator shall not assist a noneducator in the unauthorized practice of teaching.
NEA Code of Ethics, Principle II, Statement 5.
What constitutes “a noneducator?” I was afraid it might mean somebody without a teaching license, even if they were employed as “certified staff.”
Arkansas law defines unlicensed teachers as “certified staff” if they teach at schools holding waivers from teacher licensure requirements. To me, since the state legislature authorizes these people to teach, charter school teachers are not participating in the “unauthorized practice of teaching.” However, if the AEA/NEA requires a teaching license (or employment in a traditional public school district) for union membership, many of my union-curious charter school friends are out of luck.
So I read further:
Active membership is:
…open to persons who are: (i) engaged in the profession of teaching or in other educational work; or (ii) members of a state affiliate in the state affiliate’s membership category that is equivalent to the Association’s Active membership category; or (iii) persons interested in advancing the cause of public education.
NEA Constitution and Bylaws 2019-2020; Article II, Section 2a.
Thank goodness!
At first, some charter school teachers (understandably) were afraid to join the AEA because they didn’t want to face retaliation from their employers. However, once momentum started to build, I knew they were close to reaching a critical mass. Charter school teachers — licensed and unlicensed alike — began contacting AEA representatives, asking to join the union.
I was mystified when these teachers reported back that the AEA wasn’t letting them join because they had “signed their rights away when they signed their contracts.”
Well that’s plain false. All teacher contracts incorporate state teacher employment laws automatically, except for the laws that have been waived for each, individual school.
Every school in Arkansas has a different set of waivers. Charter schools have the most waivers, but traditional public schools are catching up quickly by becoming “district conversion charter schools,” “schools of innovation,“ or by applying for Act 1240 waivers.
Charter schools usually have waivers from the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act (TFDA.) TFDA waivers allow schools to write “at-will” employment contracts for their teachers. However, an “at-will” employment contract, alone, doesn’t negate all the other state laws governing teacher employment.
Also, charter schools aren’t the only ones with waivers from the TFDA. In terms of teachers’ employment rights, the distinction between “traditional public schools” and “charter schools” gets murkier every day. Blame Governor Asa Hutchinson, Education Commissioner Johnny Key, and their Walton family backers for undercutting all the laws governing education in Arkansas. It’s part of their profit-driven, privatization agenda.
On June 17, 2019, I started reaching out to my contacts within the AEA. At first, AEA President-Elect Carol Fleming suggested that unlicensed teachers might be able join as “classified staff,” like custodians, bus drivers, and cooks. After I pointed out Arkansas’ legal definition of “certified teacher,” however, the AEA officers and staff members started referring me to each other in a circular pattern of avoidance.
By July 6, everybody I was trying to reach within the AEA fell silent. Nobody responded to phone calls, text messages, emails, or Facebook messages. It was like they all agreed to ghost me at once.
I sent one, final email on September 1 — basically promising the AEA that I would write about it whether or not they answered my questions or offered a comment.
They didn’t respond.
Here’s what I think:
The Arkansas Education Association is under attack. The wealthy Walton family — who fund The Reform Alliance, Arkansas Learns, The Arkansas Public School Resource Center, the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, and many other “school choice” nonprofits in Arkansas and around the United States — are notorious union busters.
I believe the AEA is trying to protect itself from Walton-style union busting by limiting membership to teachers employed by traditional public school districts. If even licensed teachers automatically lose their union membership by agreeing to take a job at a charter school, that would be a heck of a disincentive for good teachers being recruited by the charter schools.
However, this might violate the NEA constitution, and it might violate the union’s “duty of fair representation.” Thus, I understand why the AEA is ghosting me instead of confirming or denying its membership requirements.
Doesn’t make it right, though.