THE WASHINGTON TEACHERS’ UNION MUST SPEAK OUT ABOUT MORE THAN JUST JOBS
Washington, DC— Today at Freedom Plaza, hundreds, perhaps thousands will gather to protest recent teacher layoffs. Buses will be provided to transport students from school, and a call for attendance was sent out to education organizations throughout the District. The Washington Teachers’ Union organized the rally, which DC VOICE supports, but this cannot be the only time they call for our attention, and support community action.
The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) must go beyond their focus of teacher job security and focus equally on broader issues that continue to concern the community at large. In the past year, the WTU has been silent on other issues affecting the school community such as:
- The new teaching and learning framework of DCPS
- DCPS initiatives to pay students to attend elementary school in select neighborhoods
- The inequity of high quality school options across the District
- Reports of testing irregularities at the hands of some school principals or teachers
- Heavy emphasis surrounding standardized testing in place of a well rounded education
- The lack of education oversight by the State Board and City Council
“Community members remain willing to stand with public school teachers, but is the WTU committed to working with community members beyond this week’s crisis?” asked Jeff Smith, Executive Director for DC VOICE.
Through DC VOICE’s Ready Schools and Ready Classrooms Project, more than 100 DCPS principals and 100 secondary DCPS teachers were interviewed by staff and community members in an effort to ascertain whether schools were ready for students upon the beginning of the school year, and gauge teacher needs, concerns and priorities. WTU must be responsive to community lead efforts such as this, and concerns from teachers beyond job security.
Phone: 202.986.8535 Fax: 202.986.1243
dcvoice@dcvoice.org
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Contact:
Jeff Smith
Executive Director
202-986-8535
jsmith@dcvoice.org
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