Educator Listening Sessions - What We Learned and our Plan of Action

Our slate is focused on creating a more representative and democratic union. We know that the term "teacher" can often leave many feeling left out, even if technically the term in the contract is meant to serve us all. So we started our listening sessions focused on those positions first.

We met with over 100 WTU members across 8 sessions focused on Counselors, Social Workers, Instructional Coaches, Speech Language Pathologists, Language Acquisition Teachers, Librarians, Occupational Therapists, International Educators and an upcoming session with Psychologists.

Our Major Take-Aways and Plan

What We Heard	Our Plan
Systemically under appreciated and overworked - Across all disciplines it is clear that while some school administrators have done a good job to make sure they understand the various roles of all their educators, too many do not. This leads to a piling on of tasks, unfair evaluations, and a lot of stress and turnover.	This is a huge challenge without any easy answers. We will host regular constituency meetings so that we can address patterns of behavior together and strategically as a union. This could include: using the admin/WTU training sessions to clear up common misapplication of duties, targeted campaigns, group grievances, DC Council advocacy, press stories and more.
Contract Language - There is a lack of specificity in the contract for many areas that leads to ambiguities and the assignment of many extra duties on top of the regular job.	We will open up negotiations so that all members can have a direct hand in crafting contract proposals through constituency working groups who will then have a direct voice in advocating for those proposals at the bargaining table.
IMPACT - The challenges with IMPACT are vast, from unfair application of the rubric, to unequal bonuses and opportunities for advancement	We are committed to building and running a campaign to regain the ability to bargain our evaluation to focus on growth and educator retention
WTU Representation - Some, though not all, expressed a lack of true representation in the WTU of their particular issues due to the small number of educators in their particular situation.	Varying ideas were raised, and warrant further discussion as a union: From hiring Field Representatives that understand the specific challenges facing different constituency groups to getting their own Building Rep and SCAC to ensure a voice in the Rep Assembly and/or a dedicated seat on the WTU Executive Board, there are many options we can explore together to ensure that all voices are heard and represented.

Learn more about our platform and vision here: https://www.eta4wtu.org/platform

Sign up for a 1-1 conversation with Laura Fuchs to share your experiences: https://calendar.app.google/9X7zi5Tgy57bbtrn7

Check out our April Listening Sessions: https://www.eta4wtu.org/calendar

Our Slate is committed to representing all of our educators

We have worked hard to get a diverse array of roles and perspectives.

• 8 Special Educators across Pre-K, Elementary, and High School

• 3 Language Acquisition Teachers

• 1 Social Worker

• 1 Librarian

• 1 Guidance Counselor

• 1 Instructional Coach

Our slate is committed to fulfilling the existing WTU Constitution and Bylaws by having our Area Vice Presidents host their own committees so that members can share what is happening, develop plans of action and work together on a regular basis. Dylan Craig has begun this process as the VP of High Schools, but we have a ways to go to make this widespread for all.

Learn more here: https://www.eta4wtu.org/slate

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