Teachers at Fraser's Arts Academy in the Woods Unionize
http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/12/15/news/doc4ee9417b93150749571191.txt?viewmode=fullstory
Published in Macomb Daily: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Teachers and staff at the Arts Academy in the Woods, a Fraser charter school, voted 20-1 Wednesday to establish a union.
The action will give staff the ability to collectively bargain with the AAW board, said David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers Michigan.
The vote certified the Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, an affiliate of the AFT, as the official bargaining agent for teachers and staff.
The Academy provides an integrated arts and academics educational experience, English teacher Phil Cerrasco said. The staff at AAW views the certification as essential to the continued success of the school.
“We formed a collective bargaining unit for many reasons, including our desire for job security, stability, consistency and to ensure our professional respect,” Cerrasco said in a prepared statement.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the school’s administration to create a contract that reflects our mutual commitment to providing a high quality education and establishing a professional environment for the staff.”
The school’s charter is owned by the Macomb Intermediate School District. The AFT represents many Macomb County teachers as well as the MISD staff.
“As our staff worked with these teachers at AAW we got the impression they wanted more job security,” Hecker said. “These excellent teachers want input into how the high-performing school is run and everyone is committed in keeping it that way.
”Maxwell Spayde, AAW principal, said nothing will change at the school and the administration will continue to work collaboratively with the teachers.
The school has 280 students in grades 9-12. Spayde said it has a Michigan Merit curriculum and draws students from Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties. It is located on Masonic Boulevard.
“We have a diverse group of students who want great academics and arts education,” Spayde said. “We’re balanced between the arts and academics, but we put more emphasis on the arts.
”Social studies teacher Russanne Bucci said it’s exciting to see how positive and invigorated the staff has become since the teachers decided to unionize.
“I have been a teacher at AAW since the doors opened over 10 years ago and we have a very special school,” she said. “Now that the faculty has united through the unionizing effort, there is a synergy that I have never experienced here before.”
