of AFT and NEA Locals

Presentation Agenda
 What is TURN?
 TURN Mission Statement
 Members, Supporters
 Current Activities & Work in Progress
 How will TURN Make a Difference?
 Quotes and Provocations
 What is TURN?

of AFT and NEA Locals

A union-led effort to restructure the

nation’s teachers unions to promote
reforms that will lead to better
learning and higher achievement for
America’s children.
 What is TURN’s
Primary Goal?

To create new union models that can take

the lead in building and sustaining good
schools for all students.
 Mission Statement
Teacher Unions must provide leadership for the
collective voice of their members. Teacher Unions
have a responsibility to students, their families, and
to the broader society. Teacher Unions are
committed to public education as a vital element of
our democracy. What unites these responsibilities is
our commitment to help all children learn.

We affirm the union's responsibility to collaborate

with other stakeholders in public education and to
seek consistently higher levels of student
achievement by:
 Improving continuously the quality of
teaching

 Promoting in public education and in the

union democratic dynamics, fairness, and
due process for all

 Seeking to expand the scope of collective

bargaining to include instructional and
professional issues

 Improving on an ongoing basis the terms

and conditions under which both adults and
children work and learn
 Member Locals
 Albuquerque, NM (AFT)
 Bellevue, WA (NEA)
 Boston, MA (AFT)
 Cincinnati, OH (AFT)
 Columbus, OH (NEA)
 Dade County, FL (AFT)
 Denver, CO (NEA)
 Hammond, IN (AFT)
 Los Angeles, CA (NEA/AFT)
 Memphis, TN (NEA)
 Minneapolis, MN (AFT)
 Montgomery Co., MD (NEA)
 New York, NY (AFT)
 Pinellas County, FL (NEA)
 Pittsburgh, PA (AFT)
 Poway, CA (AFT)
 Rochester, NY (AFT)
 San Diego, CA (NEA)
 San Francisco, CA (AFT /NEA)
 San Juan, CA(NEA)
 Seattle, WA (NEA)
 Syracuse, NY (AFT)
 Toledo, OH (AFT)
 Westerly, RI (NEA)
 Supporters
 American Federation of  National Commission on
Teachers (AFT) Teaching & America’s
Future
 National Education
 Consortium for Policy Association (NEA)
Research in Education 
NE & I Regional
Educational Lab @
 Graduate School of Brown University
Education &  Pew Charitable Trusts
Information Studies,  U.S. Department of
UCLA Education, OERI

 Mac Arthur Foundation

 Current Activities

 Three meetings per year (Fall, Winter, Spring)

 Developing Local Action Plans
- actively work on education reform
- include information on how efforts impact student
achievement
- include collaborating partnerships
- include communication plan, i.e. member engagement &
public engagement
- indicate how union is changing to assume new agenda
on education reform
 Initial Work Groups
Strengthening Teacher Preparation, Induction &
Retention - TURN Liaisons: Merri Mann and John Grossman;
NCTAF Liaison: Fred Frelow

Group works on
identifying and
disseminating
information on:
 models and best
practices in teacher
recruitment and
mentor programs,
 career ladders, and
 teacher retention.
 Initial Work Groups

Rethinking Teacher Assessment & Compensation-

TURN Liaisons: Roger Erskine and Louise Sundin; CPRE Liaison:
Allan Odden

Group works on
finding ways to
amend teacher
compensation
systems to include:
 school wide
incentives, and
 pay for knowledge,
skills, and service.
 Initial Work Groups
Professional Development & the Union’s Role-
TURN Liaisons: Maureen Logan and David Sherman; NE&I Lab
Liaison: Charlene Heintz

Group works on
identifying and
disseminating
information on model
practices in
professional
development that is:
 job embedded,
 teacher driven, and
 union owned.
 Current Work Groups

Teaching Quality & Instructional Issues-

TURN Liaisons: Susan Goodwin & Don Raczka; NCTAF
Liaison: Fred Frelow; CPRE Liaison: Allen Odden

Union Change & Local Capacity Building-

TURN Liaisons: Bruce Dickinson & Mark Simon; OERI Grant
Liaison: Julia Koppich

Engagement of Members and the Public-

TURN Liaisons: Francine Lawrence & Tom Alves; MacArthur
Grant Liaison: Monica Solomon; UCLA Liaison: Wellford
Wilms
 Current Activities

 Data and information gathering

- basic information on participant locals and districts
- contract analysis
- history of reform activities
- information on status of current reforms
- strengths and weaknesses
 Current Activities

 The “TURN exChange”

http://www.turnexchange.net
– A distributed electronic network intended to enhance
communication and collaboration among local teacher
unions and other reform partners.
– A principal way for TURN members to continue the
communication & the work between the meetings.
 Current Activities

The TURN exChange network fosters:

 Communication among TURN local leaders.
 Communication between TURN local leaders
and members.
 Communication between TURN local leaders
and other reform partners.
 Current Activities

 State Satellites (established in California and

Florida, Minnesota, Ohio/Indiana, and Rhode
Island; and an international electronic
satellite in cooperation with Education
International)
 Virtual Satellites- networks of teachers
discussing education reform, e.g.
http://teachers.net/
 Quotes & Provocations
“The question is, how do you maintain traditional
union values while behaving in a different way in
a different world?” Helen Bernstein

“There is no reason to expect that reforming

teacher unions would prove any less difficult
than reforming schools. And, if we are to
succeed in reforming teacher unions, it is more
likely to happen from within than from without.”
Adam Urbanski
 Quotes & Provocations
“There is no reason why we can’t use the
collective bargaining process to build a more
genuine profession for teachers.” Dal Lawrence

“It is as much the responsibility of teacher unions

to preserve public education as it is to negotiate
good contracts.” Al Shanker