Teachers, staff at KIPP Columbus charter schools trying to unionize
KIPP Columbus charter schools teachers and staff are calling on their superintendent and board of directors to voluntarily recognize their union.
Teachers, social workers, paraprofessionals, intervention specialists and student life coordinators from KIPP’s primary, elementary, middle and high school are organizing as the KIPP Columbus Alliance for Charter Teachers and Staff (KIPP Columbus ACTS) through the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the OFT announced Tuesday afternoon.
“When educators – the people who support students and families every day – have a seat at the table, things are better for everyone,” Zach Usmani, a social worker at KIPP Columbus Elementary School, said in a release announcing the union's formation. “Ensuring our voices are heard in decision-making will improve equity, build stronger schools, and attract and retain the best talent to teach our students.”
KIPP Columbus has not responded to a request for comment from The Dispatch.
KIPP Columbus began in 2008 as KIPP Journey Academy with 50 students in the fifth grade at a former Columbus City Schools building in Linden and has expanded to its present 150-acre campus at 2900 Inspire Drive on the city's Northeast Side. The campus includes KIPP Columbus Elementary, KIPP Columbus Primary, KIPP Columbus Middle, KIPP Columbus High, the KIPP Columbus Battelle Environmental Center, the KIPP Columbus Early Learning Center, and the KIPP Athletics & Wellness Complex.
About 80% of the staff signed union cards, and KIPP Columbus ACTS has presented signed union cards to KIPP Columbus superintendent Ciji Pittman and the board of directors, and they will be filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Copies of the union cards were delivered to the school’s administrators.
Filing with NLRB begins the process of scheduling a secret ballot union election, which would happen if KIPP Columbus does not recognize the supermajority support by the signed union cards.
Organizers of the proposed union are asking KIPP Columbus not to use “taxpayer money to hire anti-union consultants or to engage in any actions that could be interpreted as anti-union behavior," according to the release.
KIPP Columbus received at least $15 million in public funding for the 2021-2022 school year, the union organizers noted.
“We are a team and family, and we’re ready to work together with our administration to address issues like high turnover,” said Jenean Stokes, a social worker at KIPP Columbus Primary School.
Keshawn Harper, a social worker at KIPP Columbus High School, said he has noticed high turnover for teachers and staff.
“It affects students. They can tell that something is wrong,” he said. “That instability kind of messes up their learning environment.”
Other KIPP schools, Ohio charter schools are unionized
If the union vote is successful, KIPP Columbus ACTS would be the 10th charter school to join the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
“Charter schools work best when dedicated teachers and staff have a union voice that allows them to fight for the learning conditions their students need and the working conditions that will make educators want to return year after year,” Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, said in a prepared release.
The other unionized charter schools are in the Cleveland area: Stepstone Academy in Cleveland, Menlo Park Academy in Cleveland, three schools in the Summit Academy chain (Parma, Painesville, Lorain), and four schools in the ACCEL charter chain.
KIPP teachers and staff at schools in New York City, Baltimore and St. Louis are unionized.
KIPP Columbus began in 2008 as KIPP Journey Academy with 50 students in the fifth grade at a former Columbus City Schools building in Linden and has expanded to its present 150-acre campus at 2900 Inspire Drive on the city's Northeast Side.
The campus includes KIPP Columbus Elementary, KIPP Columbus Primary, KIPP Columbus Middle, KIPP Columbus High, the KIPP Columbus Battelle Environmental Center, the KIPP Columbus Early Learning Center, and the KIPP Athletics & Wellness Complex.
mhenry@dispatch.com
@megankhenry
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: KIPP Columbus charter schools are trying to unionize
