When a Handful of Members Deny the Rest of Their Teacher Union the Right to Expanded Accessible Voting - Entrepreneur Generations

I just walked out of one of the more bizarre and disappointing events I've attended recently: the Baltimore Teachers Union general membership meeting.

It was an important meeting, one that called to vote for an amendment to the BTU Constitution, allowing and extending voting to mail-in and possibly, in the future, online balloting.

This all started with a petition from the Baltimore Movement of Rank and File Educators (BMORE), a progressive section of the BTU. I've been involved with the group, but never very actively. I agree with their stances on making the union as democratic as possible, and using the union to help bring about social change.

There's good reason for this. Only 6% of BTU members voted in the last election, which approved the PSRP (Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel) contract and elected delegates to attend the AFT convention in Pittsburgh.

I was a candidate in that election. Voting was on May 15th, from 1pm-7pm, in ONE location: the BTU headquarters way over in far west Baltimore. To attend, I had to cancel baseball practice, and drive the 30-40 minutes across town after school. It would not have been possible if I couldn't cancel practice, or if I were directing a play, or running an extracurricular activity, or, perhaps, if I had a child to pick up or a second job to get to. That sort of a drive is a commitment. Of course, that's why only 6% of the membership showed up.

I have voted in most of the BTU elections over the last 18 years, but it's not always possible. As most educators, I live a very busy life during the school year. Most of my days, even not in coaching season, are 12-hour days. Budget cuts and schedule changes have made the work even more time-consuming. There is always more work to do, more papers to grade, more practices to devise, more lessons to plan, more parents to contact. These are not excuses, as I usually can make it; however, I've sometimes had to make the decision not to, either because of class, or a school trip, or coaching.

Almost every teacher I've spoken to feels this way.

Indeed, a plan to democratize voting and make it more accessible would seem to be something that anyone would want.

In Chicago, nearly 80% of union members vote. In Baltimore, the Prinicipals' Union just voted to allow mail-in voting. Philadelphia just voted for the same. These unions know that strong unions have the participation of all its members, not just 6%.

However, that's not the case with the Baltimore Teachers Union, at least yet.

Today, during the Twilight Zone of a meeting, I heard some fellow teachers somehow argue that making voting more accessible would weaken the union. One woman even hearkened it to conservatives who are currently trying to disenfranchise voters of color. It was probably the most forehead-palm moment of many forehead-palm moments of the evening.

The opposition was so nonsensical, and it made me so upset. I heard BTU members -- and one official -- give such misleading testimony that falsely tried to equate making voting more accessible to the union-busting done in some states. This just couldn't be further from the truth.

The Teachers who attended -- which looked to be a couple hundred -- were not fooled. They voted overwhelmingly to allow mail-in voting.

However, the three dozen PSRPs didn't feel the same way. Very loyal to BTU President Marietta English -- who opposed the idea of expanding voting -- only four voted to expand voting options. The rest voted against it, and the amendment did not pass because it needs 2/3rd majority of both branches of the union.

Now a few reactions:

-- It's so disappointing that anyone would vote to restrict anybody else's voting rights. This is something I see conservative republicans do, and it's so disappointing to see union members do it and the union to encourage them to do it.

-- It's downright shameful that such a small section of the union can control the voting rights and expansion for the vast majority. We all pay our $50/pay period for a voice in the union, and it's unfair that some people's voices are worth so much more.

-- Apparently the BTU Constitution used to approve amendments with a simple 2/3rd majority, but Marietta English, in her second tenure as President in the early 2000s, made it so the Teachers and the PSRPs each had to separately approve an amendment with a 2/3 majority. This made it so a couple dozen paraprofessionals today denied the right to expand voting to several hundred more teachers who voted to approve.

-- I certainly respect PSRPs and love the ones I've worked with years. However, it does seem the concerns of PSRPs are not aligned with the concerns of the teachers. Why the huge disparity in how we vote? Why would PSRPs deny teachers the right to mail ballots in like in elections all over the country?

-- The scare tactics used by some members of the BTU (one man today compared expanding voting rights to a "poll tax") are deplorable. They took advantage of people's fears with rhetoric used to divide and conquer. Unfortunately, it worked.

It was a hard and a disheartening night. I got home after 8pm. Tomorrow I'll do it all over again, dejected, and wondering at the actions of a few to deny the rights of many.

from Epiphany in Baltimore https://ift.tt/2De9bsU When a Handful of Members Deny the Rest of Their Teacher Union the Right to Expanded Accessible Voting - Entrepreneur Generations

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