New York City, teachers, unions, and digital learning
As explained in a recent post, New York City is expanding online learning.
Also as explained in that post, the New York City Department of Education did this in partnership with the United Federation of Teachers. This is a big deal. Unions have often worked against online learning in the United States, and if unions were to shift to be in support of digital learning options, that could bolster such options especially in urban districts and in some regions that have few such options.
But it’s not without opposition. Soon after the agreement was announced came this response:
“UFT Contract Would Expand Virtual Learning and Open the Door to School Privatization
A pilot virtual learning program is part of New York City’s new tentative contract agreement with the city’s teachers union. It’s not the win it’s cracked up to be.
(Snip)
There are many reasons to vote no on this tentative contract…but the expansion of virtual learning is perhaps the most insidious and ultimately dangerous of them all…
The expansion of virtual learning…disincentivizes maintaining a full staff because students can take course offerings from another school, therefore reducing the number of teachers a school must employ to be “fully-staffed,” and facilitating budget cuts. The possibility of fully-online postings also means that prospective teachers will face greater competition for each job, making it even harder to enter the profession….In New York City, where school funding is tied to student enrollment, this competition for places will become a fight for the very survival of brick-and-mortar schools—precisely the market economics privatizers hope to create.”
The article goes on to equate online learning with “privatization,” with no mention of the role of many districts creating online schools and programs, and the public agencies offering online courses.
Although the article may be hard to read for student advocates, it provides the service of demonstrating the thinking of at least some teachers and union representatives.
Which is why the NYC situation is such an opportunity for online learning.
Teachers—and their unions—have understandable and justifiable concerns. Many teachers report low levels of job satisfaction, and many are leaving the profession. Schools are having a hard time filling teaching positions, which causes problems for students (and administrators). And certainly, some online courses have been poorly implemented, with limited teacher-student interaction in poorly facilitated computer labs.
But good online courses and schools don’t only create options for students—they also create options for teachers. Our DLC members regularly report that they have fewer issues filling positions than traditional schools—or no such issues at all. And why not? Like knowledge-based workers everywhere, teachers value increased flexibility in where and when they work. They have more time than teachers in traditional schools for professional learning, whether formal or informal. Experienced online and hybrid school teachers also report they know their students better than they did in their traditional classrooms, because they have more time to get to know each student as an individual.
This is the reality that needs to be shared widely: online learning in its many forms can be as good for teachers as it is for students. That’s not to say it’s ideal for all teachers. Just as with students, some teachers will always prefer a traditional school.
If New York can demonstrate that online learning benefits students and teachers, that demonstration will fuel change in other districts—particularly districts in urban districts and in politically left-leaning states. That would be a win for all—students, families, and teachers.