For readers of the EIA Communiqué with a vested interest in the NEA/AFT merger question, I recommend the November-December issue of WorkingUSA, a pro-labor bimonthly magazine. Its feature article is written by Sam Pizzigati, NEA's long-time director of publishing, and is entitled "The Merger Fails — What Next for Education Unions?" You'll be intrigued as much by what Pizzigati leaves out as what he puts in. However, his direct statement, "Neither the NEA nor the AFT is eager or ready to try to renegotiate a new national merger agreement," should put to rest once and for all the notion that July's vote was only a momentary setback for merger. Reprints are available by calling 1-800-352-2210. It should be read side-by-side with Left at the Altar, published by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and available by calling 1-888-TBF-7474. 

The National Staff Organization, the umbrella union representing NEA staffers, received a nasty shock last week. After its Minnesota affiliate, the Associate Professional Staff Organization (APSO) had just negotiated an extremely generous three-year contract with the newly merged Education Minnesota (reportedly 29-40 percent salary increases), NSO received word that the Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPIEU) had successfully decertified and replaced APSO. OPIEU is, coincidentally, affiliated with the AFL-CIO. APSO is not. "This action concerns us greatly," said NSO President Chuck Agerstrand. "We had no indication an AFL-CIO affiliate was going to make a move to take away one of our locals." 

Niles, Michigan, is not the locale one would suspect as a hotbed of education labor intrigue. Nevertheless, teacher contract negotiations in the small Brandywine School District have been drawn out since August. Most of the district's administrators were privy to negotiating strategy and stances, including Pat Furner, principal of Brandywine High School. Furner, after 23 years as a teacher, became interim principal in 1995, signed a contract in April 1996, and officially took the position on July 1, 1996. Yet, at the time, Furner was also a member of the Michigan Education Association's board of directors. He resigned from the board, but received reimbursement in the 1996-97 school year from the union for expenses. Apparently, even after taking the position as principal, Furner had remained on the committee to interview and select the new executive director of MEA (Charles Anderson was ultimately chosen). 

On December 2 of this year, soon after this connection was discovered by Superintendent Sherman Thurkow and the Brandywine School Board, Furner unexpectedly resigned as principal and took another job... as a staffer with MEA. Thurkow then discovered that Furner had made several phone calls from his office to MEA's regional headquarters during the height of negotiations in the months of October and November. 

Furner has made only one public statement concerning his ongoing relationship with MEA. "There was something in the paper Saturday and I think there's going to be more in the paper as somebody's attempt to insinuate that Pat Furner was less than professional. I will stand my name and reputation up to anybody," Furner said. He went on to explain that the phone calls to MEA concerned his new job. 

One more thing: Thurkow disclosed Furner's contacts with MEA to the press on December 11. On December 15 the district and the Brandywine District Education Association unexpectedly reached a tentative three-year agreement. 

When teachers' unions fight for more money for its members, that's not surprising. But when they fight against more money, that's news. In the last three weeks, in three different places, teachers' unions have gone on record against higher pay. 

The United Educators of San Francisco filed a grievance against the school district because the pay of teachers at the Edison Charter Academy was altered without union representation. Edison, a private company, operates the school under California's charter school laws and pays teachers between $2,800 and $3,600 more per year than they would receive as regular teachers. They are, however, required to work an eight-hour day and a 190-day school year. "Yes, we work more hours," veteran Edison teacher Yvette Fagan told the San Francisco Examiner, "but I feel I'm on the ground floor of something that has the potential to impact what education will look like in the 21st century." 

In the District of Columbia, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman wanted to raise starting teacher salaries by 11 percent, to $30,000 annually, in order to attract better candidates during a teacher shortage. The union shot it down. "I would love for them to have the $30,000," said Washington Teachers' Union President Barbara Bullock. "But it's not fair for the teachers who have been here, paying their dues, working hard, not to get more money also." 

Richmond, Virginia, Superintendent Albert J. Williams wants to give new teachers a $5,000 signing bonus. But Robert Gray, president of the Richmond Education Association, says the bonus "sends a signal that the inexperienced teachers are more valuable than teachers who have committed to this system." 

Having supported incumbent Gov. Ben Cayetano against a strong challenge by Republican Linda Lingle, former Hawaii State Teachers Association President June Motokawa received her reward last week. Cayetano named her to a seat on the state Civil Rights Commission. 

On December 7, EIA reported that the Jim Thorpe Education Association in Pennsylvania had filed a grievance against the school district for depriving teachers of free coffee and doughnuts during an in-service day. Last week, under pressure from members and public ridicule, the union dropped the complaint. 

The next communiqué will appear on January 4. Have a wonderful holiday season. 

Quote of the Week: "Gray Davis has said one of his first acts as governor will be to call a special session of the Legislature to deal with education improvement. He has named your president as part of his transition team — and you can count on me to represent your wishes. We have a lengthy wish list in the form of the survey results from the CTA for the Next Century Program." — California Teachers Association President Lois Tinson.