Four More Chicago Charter Schools Face Unionization

By Kevin Robinson in News on Mar 23, 2010 3:40PM

Teachers who work at the campuses of ASPIRA schools in Chicago have begun organizing a union, asking principals at their schools to recognize the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS). More than two-thirds of the nearly 100 teachers at the four schools have signed union cards, significantly more than are required by law to form a union. “Our action sends a strong and clear message to ASPIRA that we believe forming our union will lead to greater collaboration and better results for our students,” said Alexa Sorock in a statement to the media. Sorock is a humanities teacher and department head at ASPIRA Early College High School and a Chicago ACTS member. “We expect ASPIRA will recognize our union so we can begin collective bargaining.”

Teachers at ASPIRA’s Haugan Middle School, Mirta Ramirez Computer Science High School, Early College High School and Antonia Pantoja High School have all filed their petition for representation with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. “Forming our union means having an equal voice to work together with school administration to improve learning at all four campuses,” said George Smith, a math teacher at Mirta Ramirez. “That unified voice sets up a process for the committed and dedicated educators of ASPIRA schools to help create and implement policies that will benefit the students, faculty and community.”

Last year, Civitas refused to recognize the union in their schools, and went before the National Labor Relations Board to be declared a private sector company. But teachers at Chicago International Charter Schools, which is managed by Civitas, voted to join ACTS last year, and in spite of some legal wrangling and stalling by management, successfully negotiated a contract with Civitas.