UFT/Charter Partnership Ready to Launch in Bronx; 'Gives Teachers Explicit Say'
By MICHELLE FRIEDMAN
After announcing a year ago the formation of a partnership between the United Federation of Teachers and Green Dot Charter Schools - the most prominent charter school operation in Southern California - the flagship New York City Green Dot school has selected its initial high-school class of 125 freshmen, from a lottery of more than 400 students.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Welcomes charter partner.

The school will open in September at East 149th St. and St. Ann's Ave. in the Hub area of the South Bronx, where it will share space with the 900 students enrolled at Intermediate School 162. The school will start with ninth-graders and add a grade each year up through 12.

Success Story in L.A.

Green Dot currently operates 12 public charter high schools in Los Angeles's highest-need communities based on a unique model where teachers work longer hours but are influential in school curriculum and policy. Schools enroll no more than 500 students, and class size is capped at 25 while implementing a college preparatory program for all students. This method has received a great deal of attention in California, graduating 98 percent of seniors, with up to three-quarters going on to four-year universities.

This partnership is the first collaboration of its kind in the nation, UFT President Randi Weingarten said, because unlike most charter schools, Green Dot has welcomed Teacher unions. "Many charter schools have been aggressively anti-union and have tried to employ Teachers without providing them with any rights, career track or fairness," she said. "Green Dot, on the other hand, encourages its teachers to unionize, and in doing so it has shown its commitment to fair treatment, fair pay and a teacher voice in the workplace."

'Will Give Teachers a Say'

"The progressive working conditions Green Dot provides in Los Angeles will be replicated here in New York," said Green Dot founder and chief executive officer Steve Barr, "including giving Teachers an explicit say in school policy and curriculum; a full and fair disciplinary process based on an independently mediated just cause standard; a professional work day rather than defined minutes; and flexibility to adjust the contract in critical areas over time."

"Following the expansion of the charter school cap in New York State, we wanted to find sponsors who understand that Teachers are a key ingredient of school reform and who put programs and practices in place to support Teachers," Ms. Weingarten added. "Green Dot has core principles that are very much aligned with the UFT's and it has a great track record. Teachers want to work in schools with small classes, that foster collaboration, respect and school-based decision-making and that encourage and involve parents."

Jeffrey T. Leeds, who will serve as chairman of the school's board of directors, said, "What is particularly exciting about this initiative is that it represents a model for structural reform. At its heart, this model recognizes that for schools to be successful and for students to achieve, partnerships need to be forged and accountability needs to be shared."

The school will open its doors to students July 14 for a summer session to give them a chance to become acclimated with the program.