Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1509126
On the Power of Solidarity: MARY GARDNER " As educators, we all want the same things. We're all in this because we love our students and want to serve them as best we can." SAL WILLIAMS " I feel really comfortable knowing that CTA puts political power to protect educators and students." NICOLE PIPER " We're advocating for students to have a place and accountability for charter schools and the industry, so students are at the center." KYNA COLLINS " We just bargained for catastrophic leave. It was something that didn't exist in our contract. Anything that impacts the educator environment is going to impact the students." MICAH WULLSCHLEGER " The number of unionized charters in the past few years is inspiring — you're not alone and this feels like a good thing." On Relationships With Other Charter Locals: MARY GARDNER " So much of what CTA does is connect people. Having the space and time to build with other educators and CTA staff has been so important. It's been sustaining." TIERRA ALLEN " Seeing our fellow union siblings having success makes our fight feel worth it to know that there's an end in sight. It inspires me as we work on successor language for our classified unit." JEREMY ZUNIGA " I'm inspired by charter locals' victories around parental leave. It inspires me to push for that for us." NICOLE PIPER " We're watching what's working for other charter locals and when management says it's not possible, we know otherwise." KYNA COLLINS " Being a part of these networks, we pay attention to and support each other and spread awareness about our campaigns." " We're actually interconnected by the [law firms] we're working with [that represent management] and that was an eye-opening experience for me," Piper says. e ability to build together in person and network remotely as educators and union leaders at charter schools has been invaluable. Tierra Allen, an indepen- dent studies and health teacher at Five Keys Charter in San Francisco, says the educators have been sharing information on a group chat and following each other's bargains and struggles on social media. "ey say we're stronger together and that's true. One of my biggest takeaways is we're never alone," says Allen, a member of United Educators of San Francisco-Five Keys. "It's a resource, because now there's a network of charter unions to feed off each other, support and help strategize. ere's a wealth of information being shared among these unions." Micah Wullschleger and Tierra Allen say the struggles and successes of fellow charter locals inspired their members. Kyna Collins and Jeremy Zuniga are co-chairs of the CTA Charter School Issues Advisory Committee. 41 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3