Instability causes staff at a Detroit charter school to re-apply for their jobs for second year in a row

Detroit-based charter management companies InspirED Education and New Urban Learning signed a settlement agreement with the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff and the American Federation of Teachers at the end of last month, impelling the management companies to bargain with the staff at University YES Academy (UYA), a charter school on Detroit's northwest side. But any celebration amongst staff over the promised bargaining is short-lived. The school board has decided to hire a new management company for next year, a move that not only invalidates any bargaining between staff and the companies, but also means all teachers will be terminated and must re-apply for their jobs. In other words, there very things staff was fighting for — teacher voice and stability — are once again hanging in the balance.

For a quick recap: The agreement (posted below) follows a March complaint by the National Labor Relations Board, which alleged that Lesley Redwine, the CEO of both companies, created an "alter ego corporation" (InspirED Education) in order to avoid collective bargaining with the UYA Staff, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of union representation in the spring of 2015. 

Days before the staff vote, Redwine announced that New Urban Learning, the school's management company at the time, would be parting ways over the summer; a move that would leave the staff without an employer should they vote in favor of a union (which it did) and thereby invalidate any referendum. Instead of completely walking away from the school, however, Redwine created a new management company, InspirED Education, and submitted an application to run the school under the new company — which she did for the 2015-16 school year. (We detailed the trials and tribulations of that 2014-15 unionization effort, and the interchange of management companies in our October feature, "How far will a charter school go to stop a staff from unionizing?")

While the news of the settlement agreement is being celebrated by many staff members who felt Redwine's companies failed to take their concerns for job stability and teacher voice seriously when they originally voted in favor of a union, it ultimately, however, holds little weight. On Thursday, June 2, nearly a month before the settlement agreement was signed, the UYA school board put out an RFP for a new management company, thereby severing ties with InspirED. Their decision, while likely made with the best intentions — the school's authorizer Bay Mills University had indicated it was considering revoking the school's charter unless changes occurred — further perpetuates many of the issues those looking to unionize were hoping to avoid. 

"Ultimately, the UYA board likely made this decision to move the school in a positive direction — which was necessary — but this situation highlights problems with charter school governance," says Nathan Walker of AFT-Michigan. "Changing management at the top, for good reason, has unfortunately destabilized the school and disrupted the learning environment for students by turning over the entire staff. There has to be a way to change management without disregarding all teachers." 

Since charter school teachers are employed by the management company and not the school or school board, this means that any requisite for bargaining is null and void now that InspireEd (the current employer) is leaving. More notably, when a charter school management company leaves, the entire staff is terminated and must reapply for a job with the new management company. In other words, the board's decision to hire a new management company further replicates the very uncertainty and fickleness those in support of a union were hoping to avoid.

InspirED NLRB Settlement by Allie Gross on Scribd