Why the hell would AFT sign on to TeachStrong?

My question when I saw the list of signers was, “Why would groups like TFA, Stand for Children and TNTP sign on to this?” Was I missing something? Was there some fine print that changed the principles we have long supported — to give teachers the tools, the time and the trust they need to succeed at their incredibly important job? Or is the tide really changing that much?

Given how educators have been treated over more than two decades of shame and blame — and how many of these groups have helped create the climate of attacking educators and public schools — we get the skepticism. We’re skeptical, too.

Here’s why we signed on: The tide is turning — rejecting the blame-and-shame and test-based sanctioning policies of the last decade — but educators must have a role in what replaces that flawed “reform.”

Over the last 15-plus years, policymakers in Washington, D.C., and in statehouses across the country regulated teachers rather than respecting them. And no matter what we said or how loud we said it, elite thought-leaders and elected officials weren’t listening — they were too busy being sold miracle cures like “Waiting for ‘Superman.’ ”

But in the past two years, we’ve seen real movement — movement created by educators, parents and communities effectively lifting up our voices and demanding to be heard. And it’s a movement created by the ramifications and consequences of austerity, of policy driving competition instead of collaboration, of scapegoating teachers and ignoring key factors that affect public education — especially skyrocketing child poverty rates that take a deep toll on student learning.

Now, though, elected officials, community groups and education reform organizations are paying attention in a new way. We may have reached a tipping point.

In Washington, President Obama just admitted that testing has gotten out of control, and his own policies helped lead to that. As Congress works to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we’re seeing movement away from top-down, test-obsessed, teacher-blaming politics.

We’re seeing a move away from blaming and punishing educators, and some dialogue on how to recruit, retain, support and trust them. But we have to help set that agenda, to refocus not just on training and supporting educators in the classroom but on trusting them, giving them the latitude to teach, and providing kids the equity and resources they need.

That will be no easy task. To help guide a new vision for teachers, the AFT set up our Task Force on Professionalism in October 2014, chaired by our executive vice president, Mary Cathryn Ricker.

Our task force is made up of AFT members, community leaders and parents, and it’s setting an agenda based on giving educators the training, tools and latitude to do their jobs. We’re pressing to recruit a diverse teaching force, working to change outdated discipline policies, and pushing back on a historic definition of professionalism that is steeped in race, class and gender.

Beyond bread-and-butter issues like raising wages and increasing support for planning and collaboration, TeachStrong’s nine points include issues the AFT has long fought for — issues like creating career pathways to ensure educators can learn, grow and take on new roles, reimagining teacher prep programs to ensure they’re connected to practice, and supporting new teachers through programs like teacher residencies.

All of this is supported by what we’ve heard from members for years — and most recently by the “Quality of Worklife Survey” we ran in collaboration with the Badass Teachers Association last spring. Educators told us clearly they needed latitude to teach, respect on the job, more collaboration time, better support for new teachers — all things TeachStrong’s principles address.

We are committed to raising our members’ voices at the bargaining table, in statehouses, and by engaging anyone who wants to join our solution-driven work to elevate teachers and the teaching profession. Mary Cathryn, Lorretta and I all negotiated variations of TeachStrong’s nine principles when we were local union leaders, and AFT locals around the country have done the same.

But it takes more than that. Every local leader knows that moving the ball forward takes collective action and a lot of allies — particularly parents — to fundamentally shift both the narrative and the policies that flow from it. We are bringing our ideas, our work and our determination to improve peoples’ lives to the table. And we will be heard.

Thanks to the efforts of our unions and the work of our members, teachers are regaining respect across the country, debunking the narrative that the problems in our schools are because of “bad teachers” and changing the day-to-day conditions in our schools.

We’re building teacher-powered schools, teacher-designed residency programs, and reclaiming meaningful recognition of the roles our veteran teachers play in mentoring novice teachers and sustaining our professional work.

As people see the failure of the last 15 years of test-and-sanction strategies, we have to make sure that they see and embrace practices rooted in classroom experience.

Signing on to TeachStrong is about ensuring our voices and our ideas are not just heard, but are part of the blueprint of what happens next, and it’s about stopping the policymakers and elite thought-leaders from getting it wrong again.

One of our central roles as a union is to ensure teachers are well-trained, well-compensated, listened to and respected, and are given opportunities to advance.

Some of the groups in TeachStrong may genuinely come our way as the tide turns. Others may not. If they don’t or won’t, we won’t hesitate to call them out.

But a press release about these principles or even coalitions advancing them is only a step. There are no silver bullets. We are sick and tired of people proposing the latest miracle solution. We could do everything on this list and have teachers who are both amazing and respected in every classroom, but that alone won’t be enough to help every child succeed — you know that, and we know that.

If we really want to ensure that every kid has a chance to reach his or her potential, we must provide all kids — especially kids in poverty — the resources and supports they need to succeed. We need to ensure every child has classes like art and music, has project-based instruction, and has the resources and supports that will provide a real opportunity to learn.

That’s why we’re fighting for real equity in funding. We’re taking on mayors like Rahm Emmanuel and shouting out the real story of New Orleans and Detroit. And we’re pushing Congress to protect Title I in ESEA.

It’s why I’ve proposed community schools with wraparound services since my first day as AFT president, and why today we are finally seeing real movement on that front, from Los Angeles to Cincinnati to Baltimore to New York City to McDowell County, W.Va.

It’s why we’re working to expand early childhood as well as career and technical education — to give kids and educators the best chance to succeed from cradle to career.

The tide is turning, and we have the chance to help change the narrative about educators and the role you play; to tell a different story about what works and what doesn’t in public education, based on real experience in classrooms across America. And it’s a chance to reclaim the promise of public education so that every public school is a place parents want to send their kids, educators want to work, and kids feel safe and engaged.

That’s what we’re working for.

Randi Weingarten, AFT President
Mary Cathryn Ricker, AFT Executive Vice-President