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The Boston Herald
Thursday, November 28, 2002

Teachers’ union drops hurdle to expansion of pilot schools
by Ed Hayward

The Boston Teachers Union has backed off a plan that would have thwarted action on future pilot schools, allowing the Boston Foundation to move ahead with a proposal to award grants to city schools interested in exploring a possible conversion to pilot status.

The foundation announced it would push the deadline for applications for at least six grants to Dec. 20 after BTU leaders said they removed a moratorium on teacher votes on pilot school issues.

“If we didn’t (extend the deadline), teachers of good will interested in exploring pilot status would feel they were going against the union,” said foundation president Paul Grogan. “We didn’t want to force that kind of choice if it could be avoided.”

The foundation had set a deadline of Dec. 1 for applications for pilot schools in its bid to encourage innovative solutions to education problems.

After representatives from more than 30 schools attended an informational meeting earlier this month, the union met and adopted a motion that no faculty vote to submit a grant application until a union committee issues a report on the implications of pilot status on contractual rights.

BTU President Ed Doherty said many teachers reported they felt rushed to make not just a decision on an application, but also an informal commitment to converting their schools to pilots, which operate free of many union and city regulations.

Supporters of the pilot plan feared that would create a delay that could scuttle not just the grant program, but any proposals that grew from it.

Doherty said he expects the union committee will be able to get teachers a memo on the pros and cons of pilot status for teachers by Dec. 9.

“Our goal is to give an objective view of what the advantages and disadvantages are for the average teacher,” said Doherty. “Once that goes out, people can look at it and from a union perspective people are free to indicate whether to explore a pilot school proposal.”

The foundation has an initial pool of $90,000 in grant money for up to six proposals. But Grogan said he would try to raise more money to fund all worthy proposals.

Before any school converts to pilot status, two-thirds of the faculty must vote in favor of the move. The school would then submit a detailed plan for the new school, which would need to be approved by a joint labor-management panel and then the Boston School Committee.

Doherty said union members felt rushed into making decisions on pilot schools and some reported their principals were applying pressure on them to go along with the foundation proposal.

Doherty said it was unfair to characterize the union as anti-pilot since the BTU had approved of four pilot school proposals in the past year. The city has 11 pilot schools and three new schools set to open in September are expected to be pilots.

With the city schools under greater state and federal scrutiny and enforcement provisions of President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” law looming, Grogan said pilot schools could provide a reform alternative that preserves the system while improving it.

“Boston schools are going to be under fierce pressure,” said Grogan. “It seems to me pilot schools should get real serious consideration. They keep the money in the system and the teachers in the system. It’s something people should consider.”

Copyright 2002 Boston Herald Inc.