NIAGARA CHARTER SCHOOL
Teachers put NYSUT in negative light
Published: June 24, 2009, 12:30 am
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NIAGARA FALLS — From the signs a small group of teachers carried outside Niagara Charter School on Tuesday, it was clear that they don’t want any help from New York State United Teachers.
One sign said, “Stop NYSUT,” and another said, “Broken Promises: What NYSUT thinks of charter schools,” a reference to an essay that the union published criticizing charter schools.
But teachers aren’t being given much of a choice. A judge has ruled that Niagara Charter School must allow a local union to represent its teachers.
Administrative Law Judge M. Lynn Fitzgerald agreed with NYSUT, which filed the complaint, that Niagara Charter violated a state law requiring that charter schools founded with a student population of at least 250 have union representation. Niagara Charter had about 260 when it first opened its doors and has 330 now.
The New York Post called it the first time the law has forced union representation into a charter school that opposed it.
Amy DiMaggio, a special-education teacher at the school, who picketed Tuesday, said she and her colleagues are not anti-union, but are anti-NYSUT.
“We don’t want them to represent us because they didn’t want the charter to be here in the first place,” DiMaggio said. “They’ve lobbied so hard against charter schools, it doesn’t make sense.”
But NYSUT has alleged that teachers are only rejecting union help for fear they will lose their jobs if they don’t.
NYSUT labor relations specialist Michael Deely said the school’s administrators are intimidating and coercing staff into refusing union representation, a violation of state law. NYSUT is planning to take legal action, Deely said.
“These teachers are employed at will,” he said. “If they don’t please their employer, they can be fired for any reason, from the color of their shirt to the color of their skin. I’m hoping the employer will back off the accelerator and stop suppressing the rights of teachers.”
Principal Karen Marchioli and school attorney Jonathan D. Schechter could not be reached to comment Tuesday. Business Administrator Greg Norton declined to comment, saying administrators are “staying out of it because this is an issue between the teachers and the union.”
The school and teachers unions clashed long before it opened its doors. Area unions collected signatures and urged the state to reject the proposed charter before the school opened in 2006.
Niagara Charter has appealed the judge’s decision, but NYSUT and the school’s teachers have taken a step toward creating a collective-bargaining committee to comply with the judge’s orders.
The teachers and NYSUT met once in May. Corrinne Cristofaro, executive director of the Western New York Charter School Coalition, of which Niagara Charter is a member, interrupted the meeting and was asked to leave.
According to Deely, Cristofaro told teachers that if they went through with bargaining agreements, they would be fired. Deely accused Niagara Charter administrators of using the coalition to put pressure on teachers.
State law says that any charter school found to be repeatedly and “egregiously” in violation may have its charter revoked.
Niagara Charter is applying to renew its charter, which expires next year. The application is due at the end of the month, and a decision is not expected for a year.
niagaranews@buffnews.com
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