CHARTER SCHOOLS AND UNIONS.

Continuing our charter school discussion from yesterday, I want to point out some major news Ezra highlighted: a KIPP middle school in Brooklyn is unionizing under the United Federation of Teachers, and a second New York City KIPP school already represented by the UFT is entering into collective bargaining. This means that three of KIPP's four New York City charter schools are now unionized. KIPP is widely recognized as the manager of some of the most miraculous, high-achieving urban schools in the nation. Washington Post education writer Jay Matthews wildly praises KIPP's young founders, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, in a new book, Work Hard, Be Nice.

Charter enthusiasts often claim that unionization is anathema to the charter movement itself, since the whole point of management existing outside bureaucracies is that administrators can control exactly who works inside their schools and when, without regard to tenure or unions. If schools like KIPP produce teacher burnout with their long days and high demands, then maybe that isn't such a problem, the thinking goes. Maybe teaching is a profession for whip-smart folks in their twenties without families, not for tired middle-aged people who need flex-time.

But what happened in Brooklyn is that the very young teachers in question disagreed. They said they were concerned about high turnover and thought it was hurting students. They want their profession to be sustainable and see unionization as a way to get there.

Whether KIPP and the UFT can work fruitfully together in these particular schools remains to be seen. But whatever happens, this is an important testing ground for the idea that the dueling corners of the education reform debate will accomplish most if they work together. For a good articulation of that argument, read Clay Risen.

--Dana Goldstein