WTU Prez Nathan Saunders Wears Out His Welcome & Refuses to Gracefully Accept Exile

August 1 deadline approaching

By Candi Peterson

Teachers have been asking why deposed Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) President Saunders (whose constitutional term ended June 30, 2013) still remains a hold over in the union office despite the WTU Constitution and by laws time frame for newly elected officers to assume office on July 1. Elizabeth (Liz) Davis who ran for WTU President and Candi Peterson who ran to reclaim her seat as WTU General Vice President are the newly elected officers and are still awaiting the keys to the castle. Davis and Peterson and their board will not be installed by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) until August 1 in a private ceremony at the parent organizations' headquarters. 

Typically, if WTU elections had been conducted as laid out in the WTU Constitution and By Laws, officers would have been installed in May and would assume office July 1, 2013. The Saunders friendly WTU Elections Committee modified the election timeline at the end of the WTU run-off period and granted Saunders an additional four (4) week transition period, which extended his time in office until August 1. Davis slate members speculate that this was a last ditch effort to give Saunders extra time in office.

 Since none of the candidates received a majority of the vote in the initial election as required, a run off election was held among the two candidates who received the most votes. The run off was scheduled at the end of June and ballots were counted on July 1. A complaint was filed by the WTU President elect, Elizabeth Davis after an extension was granted to Saunders by the WTU Elections Committee. Subsequently, AFT appointed a representative to facilitate the transition process. AFT encouraged both Saunders and Davis to work collaboratively during the transition period. 

By the July 12 challenge deadline, defeated WTU President Saunders and his slate lodged an election challenge to the certified election results where he lost to Elizabeth Davis by 459 to 380 and his running mate lost to Candi Peterson with 470 to 360 votes. Saunders has yet to cooperate throughout the transition process which generally requires that an outgoing president work collaboratively with the incumbent on executive decisions, in addition to, providing critical information to ensure that there is an orderly transition process.

Saunders defiance of the process so far creates an unnecessary power struggle and makes a transition nearly impossible. "This is Saunders last power grab to maintain control. It's ironic that Nathan is stealing a play from former WTU President George Parker's playbook", stated a WTU member who requested anonymity.  As the August 1 deadline quickly approaches, it remains to be seen whether Hold over WTU President Saunders will exit the office voluntarily and leave behind a legacy he can be proud of or whether he will go kicking and screaming and have to be escorted out. I hope he chooses the former so the Davis slate can get on with the business of serving its members. Our members are tired of the drama.

© Candi Peterson 2013

Here We Go Again: More DC Public School Closures!

Written by Candi Peterson

Let's take a trip down memory lane back to 2008 when Michelle Rhee was the Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Rhee rolled out a plan to abruptly close 23 public schools. Her premise was that the closing of under enrolled public schools would save the taxpayers $23 million dollars and that these cost savings could be used to hire additional teachers and create new programs. Sound similar to Kaya Henderson's Consolidation and Reorganization Proposal to consolidate 20 schools?

At the 2008 school closure meetings, parents and education stakeholders voiced strong opposition of Rhee's plan since closures were proposed before the community had a chance to have input. Stakeholders were distrustful of school closures since a disproportionately higher number of minority neighborhoods faced school closures, leaving Ward 3 schools unscathed. And it seems that the politically well connected, upscale neighborhoods west of Rock Creek will be spared again!

Parents are now asking many similar questions of Chancellor Henderson regarding her proposal to consolidate 20 more public schools that they once asked of Rhee. Stakeholders want to determine: What data was used to determine school closures? What will happen to closed school buildings? How will school closures impact DC Public Schools enrollment? Will teachers from closing schools be able to follow their students to receiving schools? What will be the actual cost savings of school closures? How will the money be used?

In 2008, Mary Levy, then Attorney for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and long time DCPS budget analyst  predicted that closing schools would not save the money Rhee projected (23 million)."If these 23 schools are closed, it isn't going to save us a lot of money and it's not going to allow us to do exciting new enrichment programs," Levy said.

By looking closely at some of the available data (DC City audit report, Mary Levy study, etc.) from the 2008 school closures, student enrollment declined considerably. Many dissatisfied parents pulled their children out of DC Public Schools and students were more than twice as likely to enroll in charter schools. The DC City audit reported in 2009 that the loss of enrollment of DC Public Schools cost the school system five million dollars. Mary Melchoir, a DCPS parent and 2nd VP of Ward 5 Council on Education recently testified at the DC City Council hearings on proposed 2013 school closures. Melchoir cited a graphic example of what happens when schools are closed. “The consolidation of Brookland/Bunker Hill elementary school resulted in the loss of 211 students who left DCPS resulting in the loss of 2.5 million dollars”, Melchoir stated.

Given what we have learned from the DCPS 2008 school closures, it is not surprising that parents, city residents and community groups are calling for a 'moratorium' on school closures this time around. Empower DC, a well respected community grassroots organization is leading the effort to halt school closures. Daniel del Pielago, organizer for Empower DC's public education campaign in a November newsletter wrote: "The Chancellor and Mayor have made up their minds so far that more schools need to be closed. The City Council while expressing concerns about this process has not expressed any tangible opposition to continued school closures."

I wholeheartedly agree with del Pielago's position that the chancellor has it wrong and needs to develop a comprehensive plan for public education. I thought we learned what not to do after the Michelle Rhee experiment of 2008. I guess somebody needs to tell Chancellor Henderson what the definition of insanity is: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  

© Candi Peterson 2013

A Call To Action: Save DC's Schools!

By Candi Peterson

In the midst of upcoming contract negotiations, there are big plans ahead to close our traditional public schools. Never in our history has been there been a greater need for teachers and school personnel to have an effective union. Our very future as educators and the future of our students will be determined by how vigorously we, alongside parents and community members are willing to fight to save our schools.

I invite all Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) members to come out and get involved in our WTU Representative Assembly to be held Tuesday, November 8 from 4:30-6:30 pm. at McKinley Technology Senior High School @ 151 T Street NE. Washington, DC. Let's do more than just give lip service to save our schools.

Earlier this week, The Washington Teacher blog featured an article about future plans to close additional public schools. Below for your perusal I have included an excerpt from the 21st Century School Fund newsletter which outlines the purpose of the Illinois Facility Fund (IFF) study which was commissioned by Deputy Mayor of Education, De'Shawn Wright and is expected to be completed at the end of November. As indicated in the 21st Century School Fund September/October newsletter (below), IFF's analysis is being conducted with plans to right size DC public schools and could lead to reconstitution of our public schools and/or replacement with school management operations. The loss of our public schools is a disinvestment in our school communities and may lead to fewer jobs, higher classrooms sizes, further declining enrollment and extinction of traditional public schools.

Independent public schools budget analyst, Mary Levy has applied IFF's  methods to DCPS and public charter school data. Ms. Levy's analysis has found that schools located in wards with higher socio- economic status are considered to be "performing" while schools in wards with lower socio-economic means are considered to be "non-performing". It is a no brainer, that schools in our poorest wards would likely be faced with closure of traditional public schools while schools in affluent wards like ward 3 would go unscathed. (see map below)

Empower DC, a grassroots community based organization is continuing to hold strategic planning meetings to fight school closures across the city and encourages all to become involved. Their next scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday, November 17 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. @ the Deanwood Recreation Center located at 1350 49th St., NE. For additional information, contact Daniel @ daniel@empowerdc.org or call 202-234-9119 ext. 104. Please encourage your school community to get involved now before it's too late. Additional meetings will be held throughout the city at later dates.

Study for "Right-Sizing" D.C. Schools Anticipated

"The Deputy Mayor for Education, with a 100,000 dollar grant from the Walton Family Foundation, engaged IFF (Illinois Facility Fund) to study the capacity and performance of DCPS and public charter schools. IFF has authored reports in Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, using a defined method to determine what they term "performing" or "non-performing" seats.  This analysis is being done with an eye to "rightsizing" district schools which beyond consolidation could include reconstitution and replacement with school management organizations.  Mary Levy, independent public school analyst, applied IFF methods to DCPS and public charter school data and found that where "performing seats" are located correlates with household wealth and family income of students.  So that ALL schools in high wealth neighborhoods are "performing" and those in low wealth neighborhoods and with large numbers of children from low income families are "non-performing" with a very few exceptions, as illustrated in a map and data-tables.   The IFF findings are expected to be issued at the end of November.  There has been no public input or discussion solicited on the methods, criteria, or purpose of this study. *Click on the underlined word map to enlarge the DC Wards map.

Silencing Dissent

I had the pleasure of doing an  interview with DC journalist, Pete Tucker who writes the FightBack blog and covers local news stories the main stream media shys away from. We were streaming live from Occupy DC. I hope you will read his article (below) and check out my interview @ http://thefightback.org/   

Thanks,

Candi

Silencing Dissent: WTU VP Candi Peterson’s Removal From Office 

by Pete Tucker

Posted on October 20, 2011

Seven months after the membership of the Washington Teachers’ Union elected Candi Peterson general vice president, she was unceremoniously, and possibly illegally, removed from office at the behest of WTU President Nathan Saunders. “Our president basically colluded with the chancellor’s office to [get rid of me],” Peterson said yesterday in an interview with TheFightBack that was livestreamed from Occupy DC at McPherson Square on K Street.

As a matter of contract, District of Columbia Public Schools grants WTU presidents and vice presidents leaves of absence from their teaching positions, which allows them to serve full time in their capacity as elected union officials. But DCPS and Saunders revoked Peterson’s leave in a September memorandum, forcing her to return to the classroom.

Peterson has been a fierce critic of the so-called school reform carried out by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee and her number two, Kaya Henderson, who replaced Rhee as chancellor. “Kaya Henderson has every reason to want to silence me. So does Nathan Saunders, I guess,” said Peterson.

The official word on Peterson’s status remains ambiguous. In a Sept. 21 letter to WTU members, Saunders said that Peterson “was not fired, terminated, nor ousted.” This is hard to square with the fact that she’s no longer general vice president and she didn’t step down by choice.

Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander questioned DCPS’s role in Peterson’s removal in an Oct. 18 email to the chancellor. Henderson responded, “President Saunders no longer required the full-time services of Ms. Peterson and therefore no longer needed her to be on leave from DCPS.”

Peterson, like Saunders, was elected by the WTU membership, and therefore it’s unclear whether DCPS has the legal right to revoke her absence based on the wishes of the president.

At a crucial time for DCPS, with talk of layoffs and school closings once again circulating, a critical voice is missing. Ironically, the effort to silence Peterson is being led not by the anti-union Rhee/Henderson team, but by the WTU president.

Related Links:
The Washington Teacher

Related Stories:
Candi Peterson: From Teacher to Blogger to WTU General Vice President, May 3, 2011
Reviewing Rhee’s Reign: A 2010 Interview with Teacher/Bloggers Candi Peterson and James Boutin, Aug. 5, 2011

Posted in District of Columbia, School Reform |

NO WTU Vice President For You AGAIN!

Written by Candi Peterson

It's official, I have been ousted from my elected position within the Washington Teachers' Union, AFL-CIO, Local 6 on September 19, 2011  by WTU President Nathan Saunders. Get this, the revocation of my leave of absence from DCPS, was authored by none other than Nathan Saunders and co-signed by Jason Kamras, Deputy Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Some might argue that this is graphic evidence that Nathan is now in bed with the Office of the Chancellor, none other than Rhee's nemesis who I like to refer as Kaya and company. Sound familiar?

Monday was one exhausting day for me. The real sordid details will have to be left for another day and another time and place. First, I must ask you to not to cast judgment on me, at least not at this time. That's what Saunders and the WTU Executive Board did to me- when they denied me my inalienable right to due process. I was never afforded a hearing, the board never heard my side of the story, never informed me that I would be the subject of discipline in an executive board meeting, never afforded me the opportunity to face my accusers or prepare a defense before severely disciplining me by stripping me of my WTU constitutional vice presidential duties, my WTU pay and my free speech rights to even discuss myself  or my own case with anyone, etc. The only thing I kept was my title. Imagine that? My lawsuit speaks to these facts. Despite these atrocities, I continued to come to work at the WTU until my leave of absence was revoked.

While you will hear that I am erratic and unprofessional, I just ask you to think back to the very person that you have known me to be and the person who has written this blog for the past three years. A lot of things describe me, but those adjectives do not reflect reality. Just some hyped up public relations smear campaign.

Once I was elected, my goal was to continue to help teachers and school personnel. This very blog was instrumental and effective in standing up for teachers as well as pointing out the flaws of  Rhee's slash and burn administration. Afterall this blog is what our members asked the WTU leadership to continue, once elected. Don't think for every minute, that I didn't try my best. I took the same passion evidenced right here and continued advocating on behalf of our members to the K Street union office. My only regret is that I wasn't able to complete the job that members elected me to do. I worked well with Nathan Saunders and he didn't have complaints about me until I went to the media about my suspension of pay by him unilaterally. When I filed my lawsuit to restore my rights as an elected leader, things simply deteriorated and Saunders retaliated. In one day, I received four letters of reprimand from him. Saunders' fury was like a lover scorned.

I hope you will return to The Washington Teacher blog for more, as details emerge. For now, I hope you will peruse Bill Turque, (AKA Washington Post writer) rendition of the WTU story as told on his DC Schools Insider blog. I'd like you to ponder this question: What type of internal remedies and/or changes to the WTU Constitution do we need to make so being ousted as a labor leader doesn't ever happen again in our union history? By the way, WTU has no internal appeal processes when there is a disagreement between the union president and the general vice president. I'm listening ? 

© Candi Peterson 2013

Teachers’ union vice president ousted in dispute with president Saunders

By Bill Turque

Seems like it’s been incorporated into the Washington Teachers’ Union by-laws: that the union president and the general vice president shall be at all-out war.

First it was George Parker and VP Nathan Saunders, who disagreed on union strategy for dealing with Michelle Rhee. Saunders contended that Parker wasn’t pushing back hard enough against Rhee initiatives such as IMPACT. The tensions led to Saunders suing Parker (unsuccessfully), and Parker moving to bounce Saunders (temporarily) back to teaching, alleging that he hadn’t been doing his job.

Now Saunders, who unseated Parker last year, is locked in a similarly nasty fight with his vice president, Candi Peterson. Peterson sued the union for breach of contract last month after she was effectively suspended from her vice presidential post. Today, she had her leave of absence from her school social worker post revoked by DCPS at Saunders’ request.

The particulars of the dispute are not completely clear, but Peterson said it started when Saunders spoke abusively to her at a July staff meeting, something that Saunders denies. Saunders, for his part, says that Peterson’s behavior had been erratic and unprofessional.

Saunders and Peterson were running mates (as were Parker and Saunders) in last fall’s election, positioning themselves as staunch critics of Rhee and former Mayor Adrian Fenty. But after the election, Saunders wanted Peterson to tone down some of the posts in her blog, The Washington Teacher. Saunders said he told her they needed to focus on meeting the needs of their members and preparing for significant challenges over the next year, including the likely closing of some schools.

“We have to lead these people,” Saunders said he told her.

Peterson said yesterday that Saunders has started to resemble the man he replaced. “He’s fired seven people (in the union office). I make number eight,” she said. “He’s become George Parker. In fact, far worse.”

He’s basically become a dictator. He’s doing the same thing George did to him.”

Saunders said he tried to work with her, asking her to take courses at the National Labor College to improve her skills, but that the relationship had deteriorated. Peterson said Saunders tried to get her to sign what she called “a political suicide note” forbidding her from talking to the press or blogging.

Her last post on The Washington Teacher, dated August 24, includes a disclaimer she is “not writing in my official capacity as WTU General Vice President, but rather as an announced candidate in the 2013 WTU election.”

By Bill Turque  |  04:22 PM ET, 09/19/2011 

Join us on Saturday, June 18, 2011 @3:30 pm

Please Join Washington Teachers' Union for a Special Event! Saturday, June 18, 2011 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Premiere Screening & Panel Discussion Benning Public Library 3935 Benning Road, NE Washington, DC 20019 Please join WTU President Nathan Saunders, General Vice President Candi Peterson, community and education leaders for a premiere screening and panel discussion about the documentary, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman." This documentary was written and directed by New York City public school teachers and parents in response to the misleading film, "Waiting for Superman." It depicts the real-life experiences of public school parents and educators to show how these so-called reforms are actually hurting education. It also highlights the kinds of real reform - inside schools and in our society as a whole - that are urgently needed to genuinely transform education in this country. **WTU members are encouraged to attend this free event and participate in an engaging discussion about the challenges facing education reform in general and in the District of Columbia Public school system.** FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: (202) 291-3399

WTU Protests the Washington Post

Written By Candi Peterson

Approximately 300 teachers, school personnel, city workers, union and community members protested outside The Washington Post building on Friday, April 15. This day was selected because it coincided with a day-off furlough for DCPS employees and DC government workers. The protest was organized by the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) against the Post due to their biased reporting that consistently vilifies teachers and fails to include more balanced reporting of the obstacles teachers face in a mostly urban school district. According to WTU President, Nathan Saunders, "You've got to understand that the Washington Post has been vicious against, not just teachers unions, but the Washington Teachers' Union in particular, for the last three or four years. And everything that the former chancellor, Michelle Rhee, has done in the District, they have embraced wholeheartedly at the expense of working teachers."

Urban Teacher blogger and a former DC teacher questioned, "Why is the Post such an awful place for citizens to get information about what's really going on with education in the District?" We also have to wonder, why did it take USA Today newspaper's investigative journalists, Jack Gillum and Marisol Bello to cover the story: "When Standardized Test Scores Soared in DC Were the Gains Real?" This story appeared in USA Today's newspaper on March 11, 2011 and found that cheating likely occurred during the Rhee/Henderson administration during 2008-2010. It begs the question where was the Washington Post?
Another reason for Friday's protest was to call attention to the Washington Post's relationship with Kaplan Higher Education which accounts for the majority of the Post's revenues which comes from standardized testing. It is the position of the WTU, that the Post fails to adequately cover education reform from all vantage points, fails to print letters to the editor from education stakeholders, colors their editorial viewpoint and heaped undeserving praise on former Chancellor Michelle Rhee during her term as Chancellor, despite her many transgressions.

Teachers and protesters carried signs that read: "Cancel your Washington Post subscription today" and "We'll stop buying until you stop lying," while singing chants as a big inflatable union rat loomed large at the footsteps of the Post. Speakers from other unions included Josh Williams, President of the Washington Metro Labor Council, Bill Simon, Former WTU President, Caneisha Mills, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) representative, Johnny Walker, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) representative. In addition, there were speeches made by Vincent Orange, At Large City Council candidate, Robert Brannum President of DC Federation of Civic Associations, Jerome Brocks, activist teacher and now retired, Sheila Gill, wrongfully terminated school counselor and a host of others with closing remarks given by Reverend Grayland Hagler who encouraged protesters to march in solidarity around the K street corridor.

All in all, it was a beautiful day and just the start of actions planned by the Washington Teachers' Union which will build momentum and seek to convince our government and Mayor of the need to provide adequate funding for public education in the District.

© Candi Peterson 2013

New Beginnings

From the desk of Candi Peterson:

December 1 marked a new beginning for me as the WTU General Vice President. During the past two years as the writer of this blog, I have enjoyed confronting stormy subjects on public education with readers by my side on a weekly basis. Topics here ranged from former DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, to performance based excessing, unprincipled principals, inside teacher stories, and "holdover" union officials. I have frequently said this blog was never intended to be a permanent dwelling place and first started out with me trying to dispel myths about the red and green teachers contract proposal and later morphed into an online voice for teachers.

I believe you can’t stand still in one place forever or it becomes a comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong, I'm not through with blogging at least not yet but in my new role- more of my time will be spent seeking resolutions to teachers complaints. After all, that’s what I get paid to do. As I work to earn my sea legs in my new position, I'd be interested in hearing your suggestions on how we can improve the quality of union membership services to teachers and school personnel. Feel free to jot me a line or leave a post here.

In keeping with our campaign promise, the Washington Teacher's Union (WTU) will host a December membership meeting and holiday social on Thursday, December 16, 2010 from 4-7:30 pm. Hope you will join us. Here's the invitation:

Please join President Nathan Saunders, Officers, Executive Board Members, Board of Trustees and Staff of the Washington Teachers' Union for a WTU General Membership Meeting and Holiday Party St. Francis Hall 1340 Quincy Street, NE Washington, DC 20017 Music, Food and Fun for All Free on-site Parking Available Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:00 pm to 7:30 pm Refreshments will be served We hope you will join us to meet the new WTU leadership, celebrate the holidays, and receive your WTU holiday token. Raffle Drawings for holiday gifts promises to be a welcome treat. Every teacher that attends our event will be counted towards the WTU's donation of toys for needy children in the district. RSVP Preferred Please RSVP by Tuesday, December 14th, by email at info@wtulocal6.org or by phone at (202) 293-8600