Three Frames of Progressive Unionism
Bread and butter Unionism
Professional Unionism
Social Justice Unionism
A progressive union actively pursues all three
Progressive Union Vision of Schooling
• Teaching is complex.
o There is no shortcut to investing in the longterm knowledge and skills of teachers.
o The knowledge base includes not just subject
competence, but cultural competency, and a
broad array of pedagogical strategies
o Professional teaching and learning conditions
include quality controls
o The union needs to represent this vision.
Distribution of Teacher Talent
• Equitable distribution of teacher talent is a
real issue – attracting the most accomplished
teachers to go to the neediest schools and
want to stay there.
• Seniority provisions and other impediments
have to be looked at.
• We need concrete alternatives to reconstitution turnaround strategies for “lowperforming schools.
The Times We’re In
• The climate for progressive unionism
seems to have taken a step backward
with Chancellors like Rhee and Klein in
the limelight. The message is that they
can do it better without the unions and
without a lot of veteran teachers. We
think that’s a tragic mistake and has lots
of implications for the type of schooling
we are creating in this country.
Mark Simon
TOM MOONEY INSTITUTE
For Teacher & Union Leadership