Virginia teachers are one step closer to being able to bargain with their local school boards over wages and working conditions, after Sunday鈥檚 passage of what advocates have called a 鈥渉istoric鈥� bill.
The measure is now on the desk of Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, who has until April 6 to act. He hasn鈥檛 taken a public position on the legislation, which would allow limited public-sector collective bargaining.
The passage of this bill is 鈥渓iterally a game changer,鈥� said Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston.
鈥淧eople need to think of this in very, very simple terms鈥攖hat collective bargaining is a common good for the kids of the commonwealth,鈥� he said on a Tuesday press call with reporters.
Virginia teachers haven鈥檛 had collective bargaining rights since 1977, when the state Supreme Court struck down that right. Before then, about a dozen local associations鈥攊ncluding in Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Virginia Beach, and Charlottesville鈥攚ere engaged in collective bargaining. In 1993, Virginia cemented into code an official ban on public-sector employees collectively bargaining through their local unions.
Teachers also don鈥檛 have collective bargaining rights in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Texas, , which was last updated in January 2019. In nine other states, collective bargaining is permissible, but districts are not obligated to engage in bargaining, the NCTQ鈥檚 database says.
That could now be the case in Virginia. While the state House had passed a broader measure that would have mandated that state and local governments bargain with unions, the state Senate passed a more narrow bill saying that bargaining will be allowed only if a local school board authorizes it with an ordinance or resolution.
Already, some localities鈥攊ncluding the Fairfax County School Board鈥攈ave publicly expressed support for collective bargaining. Others have argued that implementing bargaining would be expensive and could lead to higher taxes.
Livingston said the VEA will be putting forward 鈥渁 tremendous amount of work鈥� to urge every local school board to pass resolutions authorizing collective bargaining.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a teacher out there who isn鈥檛 going to work their tail off to make sure that school boards understand the benefit to kids of contract negotiations,鈥� Livingston said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not naive. Getting educators a seat at the negotiating table will be easier in some places than others, but we鈥檙e not going to be bashful.鈥�
鈥楢 Seat at the Table鈥�
On the press call, local union presidents said getting collective bargaining rights would allow them to advocate to improve learning conditions for students.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the experts in the field, and we didn鈥檛 have a seat at the table,鈥� said Kimberly Adams, the president of the Fairfax Education Association. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like coming up with a new way to do heart surgery without asking a doctor first how to do the procedure.鈥�
Adams said her union鈥檚 priorities include smaller class sizes, smaller counselor-to-student ratios, more health professionals in schools, reductions in mandatory testing, and higher wages for hourly employees, like custodians and bus drivers. (Unions have long held that collective bargaining raises wages, but a 2018 study funded by Stanford University found that requiring school districts to bargain with teachers鈥� unions .)
Meanwhile, Kelly Walker, the president of the Virginia Beach Education Association, said it would be tough to get the local school board on board with authorizing collective bargaining, but her union is determined to help officials 鈥渦nderstand what this means.鈥�
Since the Great Recession, she said, teachers鈥� workloads have increased, and it鈥檚 harder to provide students with the support that they need.
For two years now, the Virginia Education Association has organized a rally outside the state capitol to call for higher teacher salaries and more school funding. Teachers have taken personal days to attend鈥攊n some cases, shutting down schools due to the high volume of absences. (Strikes by public employees would remain illegal with this new legislation.)
鈥淚 think the passage of this bill is a byproduct of that very visible and very vocal advocacy,鈥� Livingston said. 鈥淚 expect that we鈥檙e going to see that advocacy continue because we are clearly not where we need to be in meeting the needs of students and meeting the needs of public schools.鈥�
The national unions also cheered the bill鈥檚 passage. In statements, National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said she looked forward to 鈥渨orking with VEA and school boards across the commonwealth to improve learning conditions in every single Virginia classroom,鈥� while American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the legislation鈥檚 passage 鈥済ets us closer to ensuring all public sector workers in the country have a voice.鈥�
Image: Inett Dabney, center right, the principal of Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School, and other Virginia educators and supporters chant for more school funding during the Virginia Education Association鈥檚 annual rally in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 27. 鈥擠aniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP