As Paulo Freire Freedom School students left school on Tuesday afternoon, teacher Keegan Adams started teaching on the sidewalk in front of the Downtown campus.
“We are here to let the board know our community stands behind us,” Adams told a student who asked him what was happening.
Tuesday’s lesson took place during a rally of about three dozen parents, teachers, staff and students aiming to generate support for a unionizing effort. Teachers at the CITY Center for Collaborative Learning, a nonprofit that includes City High and two middle schools: Paulo Freire Freedom School, University and Downtown campuses voted with a supermajority in December to form a union.
“Let. Us. Vote. Let. Us. Vote,” Tuesday’s crowd chanted.
Teachers say their unionizing efforts have been stalled as the Governing Board told them their requests to appear on meeting agendas would not be welcome or heard.
Board president Gina Catalano did not respond to questions from Arizona Luminaria about union efforts and the agenda issue teachers raised.
“We encourage and support teacher and staff voices, representation and participation in decision-making. That commitment is non-negotiable and central to who we are as an organization,” the board wrote in a Feb. 13 letter to teachers and staff.
But teachers say they are not represented nor allowed to participate in decision-making and are being denied time on a meeting agenda. About 40 teachers and staff serve about 285 students at three schools.
In December, the board hired employment law firm Littler Mendelson P.C., a nationwide firm, which has an office in Phoenix and has represented Starbucks and others to thwart unionization around the country. A petition filed on behalf of the CITY Center for Collaborative Learning, says charter schools are recognized as public schools in Arizona and the National Labor Relations Board does not have authority over public employers.
That argument could also affect Arizona’s first charter school union, formed at BASIS Tucson last fall. BASIS unionized in September, as part of AFT Local 6627, Arizona Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, part of the American Federation of Teachers.
The board, which next meets on March 19, has the option to voluntarily recognize the union, staff noted. Arizona charter teachers and staff cannot join another union, like the Tucson Education Association, because it does not allow charter-school members.
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