Q&A: This school educates to a different drummer

NEA Today, Jan 2000

Mike Olson is the president of the Phoenix Union Classroom Teachers Association. He spoke recently with NEA Today on what lessons NEA members can learn from his district's new and innovative Cesar Chavez High as they help plan schools for the next millennium.

Why did your NEA local agree to a collaborative management structure at Cesar Chavez?

Five years ago we had a job action. We were picketing. And the community gave us a real spanking. And the administrators got a spanking, too. "Knock it off," the public told us, "take care of our kids!"

We're really facing tremendous pressure to improve the quality of public schools in this country. And if we're not involved in improving that quality, then parents are going to look elsewhere. So we said we would try this. This is ground nobody has tread on before.

Why do some of your members feel threatened by this collaboration?

They perceive collaboration as a sign of weakness. When you work as a team, everybody has to take responsibility for the decision. It's not clear-cut. You can't point to something and say, "We got that." In collaboration, you have to include your partners and say, "We got this together." This is strength through partnership.

How do you resolve conflict under the Chavez compact?

We don't try to avoid conflict because conflict will exist. The idea is to problem solve. Under the Chavez compact, we want to give people the tools to solve their problems on their own campus.

Could Chavez be a model for the school of the future?

If this could work, teachers would be empowered. Classified workers would be empowered. The lines would be blurred between classified and certified. "When I go to work," our members would be able to say, "I get to make decisions about kids."

But this won't mean anything if student achievement doesn't improve. We're not doing this so employees can have a better day at work.

If teachers and support staff are empowered, I believe the result will be higher student achievement.