Last week I wrote about President Obama’s plan to use $5 billion to fund a federal school turnaround program with the intention of closing 5,000 failing schools in the next five years and reopening them with new teachers and principals. I also drew your attention to a terrific New Yorker article about Steve Barr, a revolutionary school transformer who heads the charter-school-management organization Green Dot Public Schools, and seems to be Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s pick for overseeing as many school takeovers/transformations as possible.

What I didn’t mention is that unlike other large charter organizations, Barr’s is the only one in the country that welcomes unionized teachers and offers them a collectively bargained contract. In his words: I don’t see how you tip a system with a hundred per cent unionized labor without unionized labor.

Instead of pitting charters and unions against each other, Barr looks for what they have in common—like wanting to limit central bureaucracy, give teachers more freedom, and make direct funding for classrooms a budget priority. According to the New Yorker, Barr expected to meet with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (A.F.T.) and the United Federation of Teachers (U.F.T.), to discuss plans for a school turnaround partnership to be called Green Dot America.

And now for an update: According to Gotham Schools, as of last Friday, Randi Weingarten and Steve Barr were close to finalizing the teachers’ contract for the new Green Dot charter school to open in the South Bronx. (Not sure if they actually did yet—can’t seem to find any more recent news.) This is a momentous occasion since innovative partnerships between unions and charters are still quite rare. (Only one other charter school in NYC has a finalized union contract, with several others still under negotiation). Could this be a sign of changing times?

One of the most contentious issues between charters and unions is the whole concept of tenure. According to Barr,  teachers’ contracts at the original Green Dot schools in Los Angeles do not include provisions for tenure, but do guarantee protections against unfair dismissal, a professional workday, site-based hiring and firing, accountability, and treating teachers like professionals who should have a voice in almost every aspect of the school. (Sounds like a pretty fair compromise to me.) Barr said he expects the New York contract to be very similar.

On a live television debate several weeks ago, Randi Weingarten actually said that charter schools should not only be seen as laboratories for academic innovation, but for innovative labor relations as well. Considering teachers’ unions are not usually known for being flexible and supporting innovation (especially when it comes to labor relations), that’s a pretty bold statement and trail-blazing direction for their president to be taking. But I think her timing couldn’t be better. As President Obama makes school reform and bridging our achievement gap a national priority, it’s time for people at every level of leadership to put their political differences aside and start working together in the name of giving all children the best education possible.

(Photo: lumaxart’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons)