School & District Management

Duncan, Unions Set Summit to Highlight Cooperation

By Alyson Klein — October 22, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the presidents of the two national teachers’ unions are planning a summit to show the world that unions and managers can indeed get along to help students—really, pay no attention to that “Waiting for ‘Superman’” movie.

The event, to take place early next year, will be called the National Education Reform Conference on Labor Management Collaboration. It will highlight collective bargaining agreements that show that unions and districts can collaborate on education redesign.

Mr. Duncan traveled with Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, to Tampa, Fla., on Oct. 14 to announce the effort.

They chose the site because the 191,000-student Hillsborough County district and its union have reached a deal to revamp teacher and principal evaluation.

In a statement touting the event, the U.S. Department of Education cited strong union-district cooperation in, among other places, Baltimore (efforts local union members have since rebuffed); Detroit; New Haven, Conn.; and Pittsburgh.

The unions don’t like the narrative that they say has been picked up in the mainstream media: that they are resistant to change and unwilling to cooperate.

“Over the last month, the public has been inundated with negative portrayals of teachers and their unions. “Waiting for ‘Superman’,” NBC’s Education Nation summit, and other media coverage have vilified teachers and portrayed their unions as the obstacles to school improvement,” the NEA said in a statement.

Mr. Duncan has praised union leaders who have embraced policies the administration favors, such as gauging teacher effectiveness by examining student outcomes.

In particular, he has lauded Diane Donohue, the president of the Delaware State Education Association, calling her one of his “personal heroes.” Ms. Donohue was key to crafting (and selling) her state’s winning application in the federal Race to the Top competition.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the October 27, 2010 edition of Education Week as Duncan and Unions Schedule Play Date

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion A Good Principal Knows When It's Time to Leave
I didn’t leave my job because of burnout; I stepped away from being a school leader because it was in everybody’s best interest.
Matthew Ebert
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of someone handing off a baton to someone else over a completed puzzle.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Tell Politicians on Capitol Hill: We’re Burning Out
Students' mental health top principals' growing list of concerns.
6 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
Visitors walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington on June 9, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
School & District Management Women Superintendents Experience Bias on the Climb to Leadership
Interpersonal slights and inequities make it hard for women to land the job and stay in it.
3 min read
Woman stands in front of a staircase in different colors. She is about to walk up the stairs. Concept of standing in front of a challenge and finding the right solution and courage to move on.
mikkelwilliam/E+
School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty