"I can’t imagine working anywhere else."
Sarah White, guidance counselor, Orchard Gardens Pilot School

Pilot Schools are freed from union and school committee work rules in order to develop their own unique communities. Similar to that of governing boards, the underlying principle of election-to-work agreements is that the school community, not the district or the union, knows what works best for its staff and students. Pilot Schools develop election-to-work agreements that detail the school’s mission, staff and school schedule, professional development calendar, responsibilities, performance evaluation, dispute resolution, and process for releasing faculty.

Through staffing autonomy, Pilot Schools are able to hire and release staff to create a unified school community. All staff voluntarily choose to work in Pilot Schools, and staff select schools based on their own interests and skills. Pilot School teachers are members of the teachers union, and receive the same salary, benefits, and accrual of seniority (in the district) as other BPS teachers. However, work conditions are decided at the school level through the election-to-work agreement, in contrast to other district schools’ work conditions that are decided by the Boston Teachers Union (BTU) contract.

Pilot School staff commit to the school by signing an annual election-to-work agreement, which is approved the previous school year. Agreements are based on input from the school’s staff and approved by the governing board, which includes a minimum of four teachers. Pilot Schools have different processes for soliciting staff feedback prior to bringing a proposed agreement before the governing board for review and approval. Some Pilot Schools set up election-to-work committees, others form a group of teachers that include BTU representatives to meet with administrators, and others develop the document as a whole staff. Sarah White, guidance counselor at Orchard Gardens Pilot School, said, “One of my favorite things about being a Pilot School is that we always vote on everything.” Greg Allen, a teacher at Boston Community Leadership Academy, explained, “All of our decisions are made together and come out of our commitment to the students.”

By mid-January of each year, Pilot School governing boards must approve the election-to-work agreement for the upcoming school year and provide it to staff. To ensure staff support of the agreement, a final opportunity to reassess the approved agreement exists. If a faculty so chooses, it may vote on the approved agreement; a two-thirds vote against the agreement automatically sends it back to the governing board for possible revision.

Critical to crafting a strong election-to-work agreement is creating a process that values the voices of all parties and that meets the needs of students, staff, and administration. The process for developing and approving the agreement must be clear to all. The Pilot Schools Staff Network has examined agreements and decision-making procedures among Pilot Schools over the past two years. Members favored agreements that are clear, specific, and structured. In some agreements, staff questioned vague language and decision-making procedures.

Election-to-work agreements demonstrate the range of ways schools are able to use autonomy to improve themselves. “We can decide to do things differently for our kids and our staff,” explained a teacher at the Gardner Elementary School. For example, schools are able to alter their school schedules to provide more effective conditions for teaching and learning, and create useful staff professional development and retreats. “It’s a learning process no matter how many times you do it,” concluded a New Mission High School governing board member at the Pilot Schools Governing Board Session. After working in a regular district school for decades, Sharon Keyes, a Harbor School student support staff member stated, “I’m now a Pilot advocate. I really see the benefits. We have more learning time, I’m able to know all of my students, and I’m able to connect with my students and the community.”