KIPP Teachers in St. Louis Win Union Representation
Teachers at KIPP High School in St. Louis are the first charter school teachers to win union membership in St. Louis since the first charter school opened in the city in 2000, reported The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“Since the first charter schools opened in St. Louis in 2000,” reported the newspaper, “none of the other 34 schools have unionized. In 2015, teachers at Grand Center Arts Academy voted to join AFT, but the move fell through in negotiations with the Confluence Academy charter network.”
In a vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, two-thirds of the faculty at KIPP High School voted to join American Federation of Teachers Local 420.
For its part, KIPP declined to comment on how many schools it operates nationwide that are unionized but did state they intended to cooperate with the teachers’ union.
KIPP previously sued the United Federation of Teachers in New York in an effort to block the enforcement of a union contract in 2018 at KIPP’s flagship school in the Bronx, established in 1995 and the subject of much adulation in the media over the years. That effort to stop teachers from unionizing was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, reported Chalkbeat.
One factor that may have influenced the vote in St. Louis is low pay. “With an average salary of $43,260 in 2021,” reported the Post-Dispatch, “KIPP teachers were among the 10 lowest paying school districts or charters in the St. Louis region. The average teacher salary at St. Louis Public Schools was $48,380.”
Another contributing factor may have been recent unrest at KIPP High. The school was forced to close for two weeks in order to undergo security updates after three students brought weapons on campus in October, reported the Post-Dispatch
Charter school leaders have traditionally opposed the unionization of their faculty. “About 11% of charter schools nationwide are unionized, with a majority in states that require it,” reported the newspaper.
Efforts by teachers at charter schools to unionize typically signal dissatisfaction with administrators as well as desire for greater voice, according to a recent study from the University of Washington, noted the newspaper.
- J. Finegan