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Teachers Unionize Philly Charter School
PHILADELPHIA -- Teachers at Wakisha Charter School voted today overwhelmingly to affiliate with the Alliance of Charter School employees (ACSE), an affiliate of the AFT Pennsylvania.
By a 63% margin, teachers voted in support of the union. Wakisha, an Afro-centric curriculum middle school, has 26 faculty members and serves 370 students near Center City.
“Teachers have come together to say we want a voice to make Wakisha a better school for our students,” said Antoinette Griffin, an 8th grade math teacher.
“We want to reduce teacher turnover, strengthen teacher’s skills and get the resources that we need to offer an academically rich program to our students,” said Griffin, who has taught at Wakisha for 3 years. “With a union, we have the backing to work on these improvements.”
“We want a partnership with administration, one that is based on mutual respect,” said Nanyamka Wali, a third-year science teacher. “We hope to work with the board and the administration to make Wakisha a model of excellence.”
AFT Pennsylvania created ACSE to support charter teachers who wanted a professional voice at their schools.
“We are proud of these teachers for standing together to win their full rights as professionals,” said AFT PA President Ted Kirsch. “Teachers are a school’s most valuable resource. When teachers have a voice in their school, students and the school benefit.”
In an effort to capture the spirit of the founding African principles of Wakisha, teachers developed a mission statement based on those principles. Teachers stressed “Umoja” (unity) to show their administration that they were committed to strengthening the school.
Laprese Rothwell-Nikoi, a 6th grade math teacher and a parent of a Wakisha student, felt that teachers needed a union in order to bring teachers together from “a broad variety of mind sets.”
“In a perfect African-centered environment, a union might not have been necessary,” said Rothwell-Nikoi, who is a 3rd year teacher, “but this is not that perfect situation. “We needed to unify to show our Board and administration that we, the teachers, have the best interests of children at heart.”
In an effort to demonstrate their commitment to Wakisha, the teachers reached out to a number of community leaders for support in the union effort. The teachers received letters of support from civil rights activist and founding board member of Wakisha, Donald Ducky Birts. Also, Councilmember Bill Greenlee, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, and Councilman Frank DiCicco sent letters to the board asking that they respect the right of teachers to organize without interference.
Wakisha Charter School was founded 9 years ago.
“For charter schools to achieve their founding mission of innovation, these schools need to recognize teachers as full partners,” said Kirsch.
AFT Pennsylvania represents more than 36,000 members in 93 local affiliates throughout the Commonwealth, including teachers and school-related personnel, health care professionals, higher education faculty members and state employees.
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