Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1449741
While the anti-union legacy of CUSD founding superintendent "Doc" Buchanan looms large in the district, Kristin Heimerdinger and other ACE educators are creating a new culture in Clovis. " Educators need a meaningful seat at the table. A union is the best way to ensure a strong future for our students and schools for years to come." —Kristin Heimerdinger, Buchanan High School teacher of Clovis educators began meeting regularly to discuss the growing challenges in CUSD and share their experiences. e group quickly grew to include new and seasoned educators across Clovis from all grade levels. ey discovered that they shared common values and goals, and cared deeply about their students, the district and the Clovis community. "is movement has built a family among edu- cators," Heimerdinger says. The team contacted CTA for support in the union-building effort and continued to reach out to colleagues in the organizing effort. Only nine months later, the educators went public, announcing the establishment of the Association of Clovis Educators in an April 2021 letter to the community. " We are proud to be Clovis educa- tors, and we have created ACE because we want to see our schools, students, teachers, staff and administrators thrive," reads the letter, signed by 75 Clovis educators and ACE members. "Clovis educators and schools are known for their excellence, and we believe that to stay true to our district's core values, forming a union is our next important step," Heimerdinger said in April. "Educators need a meaning ful seat at the table, and we believe a union is the best way to ensure a strong future for our students and schools for years to come." The effort to collect the signatures of more than half of Clovis Unified's 2,100 educators on petitions to form a union is a tall order under normal conditions — even more so during a pandemic and in a district so openly hostile to unions. (See sidebar on the pro- cess of forming a union.) Educators say they're battling 60-plus years of anti-union rhetoric and challenging a system that is historically closed and isolated, fueling fears of retaliation. Soemali's mother and aunt were part of an unsuccessful unionizing effort by Clovis educators in the 1980s. She says every educator who was a part of the attempt was retaliated against by district management. "It's not just something people are afraid of; it's something that actually happened," says Soemali. e movement to build ACE is changing what has been a long-standing culture of fear. Welch says building relationships across the district and working together toward what students need helps dispel that fear. "We're beginning to build a new culture where educators feel they have agency in the system," says Roche. Ma p l e Cre e k E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l t e a c h e r and AC E m emb er Eli zab eth Henderson can feel it. Exhausted from being asked to do more and more for her students and tired of having nowhere to go, she says ACE is making a huge difference in her life. "I 'm having conversations with people I 've never had before. I feel like I'm finally part of a group who sees me and that I matter," Henderson says. "Speaking up is no longer rocking the boat. We realize that we're not alone anymore. I think Clovis is starting to change." Building and growing the union Only a few months after announcing the for- mation of AC E, th e young union recorded a major victor y when CUSD's school psychologists filed for recognition with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in June. Due to the critical needs of their students and ongoing impacts of the pandemic, 76 percent of CUSD's 26 cta.org Jason Roche Dan Dritz Feature