I hope your school year is off to a good start. I know that one of the things school leaders like you need is respect. You need tangible respect that you can feel in your everyday interactions with network and district officials, and respect you can see in your paycheck. Last week I traveled across the district to meet one-on-one with every principal and assistant principal who responded to our call for a CPAA Compensation Working Group. It is clear that principals and AP’s are frustrated with being told how much they are valued while at the same time being underpaid, understaffed, and overburdened with meaningless compliance work. Throughout history, working professionals have organized to gain compensation and working conditions that reflect real respect. One of the most effective tools they’ve used toward that purpose is collective bargaining rights that compel employers to negotiate in good faith. The State of Illinois, however, denies collective bargaining rights to school leaders like you.
The time is right, however, for a push to reclaim our rights. In a recent CPAA survey, 86% of school leaders were in favor of collective bargaining rights for administrators (10% were neutral, and only 4% were not in favor). All over America, there are states that respect the right of school leaders to organize and collectively bargain. Recently, I traveled to New York to speak with school administrators from across the country who had gathered there for a leadership institute. All the leaders I spoke to were from states where school administrators have collective bargaining rights: New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, California, Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, to name a few.
"We got a 10% raise over two years, plus an additional 2% to 4% depending on the number of years you've been an administrator. That would not have been possible without collective bargaining rights, but we also went in being able to say, 'We have 300 members behind us.'"
Caroline Satoda, President
United Administrators of San Francisco
Here is a one-minute clip from a revealing conversation I had with the Caroline Satoda, President of the United Administrators of San Francisco, about what collective bargaining rights helped school leaders accomplish there.
San Francisco is among hundreds of cities in the U.S., where school administrators have collective bargaining rights. United Administrators of San Francisco President, Caroline Satoda, talks with CPAA President Troy LaRaviere about the importance of those rights. If you have trouble viewing the video above, try this alternative DropBox link.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more about what we learned from these leaders and unveiling our strategy to reclaim collective bargaining rights for Illinois school administrators. I will also address critical questions and concerns raised by some of our members. With your support, we will compel our district to negotiate in good faith with the professionals who lead the district's schools. Take the first step by completing the Working Group Sign-Up form today.
Thank you for your dedication and perseverance. Let's do all we can to ensure that it does not go unrewarded.
