The Washington Teachers’ Union is opposing the unilateral imposition of an extended school year.
The teachers say they’re not against extended learning opportunities for students, just the way the Mayor and DCPS unilaterally imposed the extended year plan, which they say violates the contracts between the school district and its workers. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and School Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced last week that D.C. Public Schools would extend the school year for ten schools in the 2016-2017 school year. The Washington Teachers’ Union is urging supporters to sign a petition calling on Mayor Bowser and DCPS to bargain in good faith with the unions; a link to the petition is posted at dclabor.org. "We want our children to have a better school year, not a longer one," says Teachers Union president Liz Davis. On this week’s labor calendar, DC Labor FilmFest Previews will be screened tonight at 6pm at the Takoma Park Busboys and Poets, a free event where attendees will help decide what films are shown at this year’s DC Labor FilmFest. Also at 6p tonight, there’s a D.C. COPE meeting at the IATSE Local 22 union hall. As always, you can go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar for complete details. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 1917, IWW activist Tom Mooney was convicted in a bombing frame-up orchestrated by the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He was pardoned and released 22 years later. In 1937, Congress approved legislation allowing for a total of $940 million to be used for Depression-era relief projects, most of which was intended to fund work relief and flood recovery programs. In 1950, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy falsely charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists. It seems that just about everyone else the Wisconsin senator didn’t like was a Communist as well, including scores of unionists. This was the beginning of "McCarthyism." He ultimately was officially condemned by the Senate and died of alcoholism. Today’s labor quote is by David Dubinsky, the American labor leader who served as president of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union from 1932 to 1966. He took part in the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and was one of the founders of the American Labor Party and the Liberal Party of New York. David Dubinsky, who said: “The challenges change. So do the tools needed to meet them. But one thing cannot change – the conception of trade unionism as morally clean in a way that no business is. Business is profit; the union is idealism, commitment, service. Without the faith of our members, we lose what we have built.”
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