History

In the early part of the 20th century teachers were treated without dignity or respect. The school board had a paternalistic control over teachers. In 1907, the school board of Washington DC stated that teachers were forbidden to contact Congress, by themselves or through an association representing teachers, concerning salaries or any other education legislation. They had to go to the school board first to get permission .

According to an article featured in the Washington Post in 1910, salaries for DC teachers’ ranked 75th out of 80. The average yearly income of a DC schoolteacher was about $800 per year and the maximum was $2,200 per year. There was no pension, no tenure, teachers were fired for being married and duties were assigned at the will of the principal with no extra pay. In 1911, after pressure from citizens groups, Congress finally passed a pension bill to pay retired teachers $420 a year.

It was in 1916 that a group of teacher organizations came together to form the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Chicago. Several locals signed onto the charter and were from the High School Federation of Teachers from Washington DC. Other locals soon organized in DC, including: Local 9, which formed on September 14, 1916 by the teachers at Armstrong-Dunbar High School, but only lasted five years; Local 33 at Howard University formed in November 1916, which lasted two years; Local 10, the Washington men teachers’, formed May 10, 1917, which lasted almost five years; and Local 16 grade teachers of DC which was formed on January 28, 1918 and merged with Local 8 in 1925. Various other locals formed in the 1920’s, but they too faded away rather than merge with the others. The only other local that lasted as long as Local 8 was the Elementary School Colored Federation of Teachers, Local 27.

One of the first battles fought by these young unions was over a suspension of an English teacher. Alice Wood taught at Western High School and had made comments in class about the need to better understand Bolshevism. Two students commented that Wood spoke about the Bolsheviks and communism to their parents who then in turn contacted the school board. After a very informal hearing Wood was suspended for holding an “indiscrete discussion” about social and industrial issues. Local 8 and 27 sued the school board and argued that Wood had been suspended without a trail and that the suspension was therefore invalid. The court agreed and reinstated Wood. This action by the court created a de facto tenure rule in Washington DC in 1919.

During the 1920s the unions got an increase in salaries. A starting teacher now received $1,400 a year. The unions also helped protect married teachers so they could continue teaching, get free textbooks for students, establish a junior high school system and manage to persuade the school board to lower class sizes to less than forty students per class.

In the 1930s, the country was suffering through the Great Depression and times were abysmal for teachers. In Chicago, teachers would beg for food after school and were paid in worthless script. Hundreds of schools closed throughout the country, but in DC it was not all that bad. The superintendent of schools for Prince George’s county actually complained that teachers were leaving his school district to work in the favorable conditions in DC. Two thirds of DC schools had less than 40 students per classroom, and the unions defeated an effort by the Washington DC Public School Association to fire all teachers who smoked or drank. Within three years, the unions managed to get back the entire 15% salary cut. However, many issues still affected the quality of work for teachers in DC. One was a ‘Red Rider’ on teacher contracts. This rider was signed by the teacher every two weeks in order to get a paycheck that stated that they never mentioned or talked about communism.

The Washington DC Association of Attendance Officers organized Local 867 in 1946. What was unique about this local was that it was integrated in a segregated city. The southern locals of the AFT were mostly segregated at this time in history since the school districts were segregated into two school systems. By 1948, the AFT changed their constitution, which stated that no segregated locals would be chartered in the AFT. Taking a cue from the AFT and under the leadership of Selma Borchardt, a member of Local 8 and vice president of the AFT, the two DC Locals 8 and 27 merged June 1953 and AFT approved the merger on September 2, 1953. This created the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), Local 6. Three years later the AFT nullified the charters of all locals that refused to integrate. This action cost the AFT 10% of their membership, but the AFT was able to stand by their words with action concerning civil rights.

The 1960s was the decade of "teachers power". Executive order # 10988 signed by President Kennedy basically stated that government workers have the right to bargain collectively with their employers. This was the match that set off the spark for teacher organizing. In 1962, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) won the right to represent all of the teachers in New York City at the bargaining table and had gone on a successful strike. By 1964, Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit had won elections and were negotiating contracts.

The WTU at that time was worried that if there were an election than the 263 member union would lose to the 4,500 member District of Columbia Education Association (DCEA). William Simons was elected president of the union and immediately started a membership drive stressing improvement of working conditions, duty-free lunch periods and the need for a proper grievance procedure.

With membership growing, the WTU felt confident about asking for an election. An election was called in April 1967 and the union won. The WTU received 3,540 votes and the DCEA only got 2,110 votes. The WTU was now the sole bargaining agent for all of the teachers in the District, and by June membership rose to 2,000.

After a rough start at contract negotiations, a one-year contract was finally signed January 1968. This contract included a grievance procedure with binding arbitration, duty free lunch period for all teachers’, planning periods for the elementary teachers, and a school chapter advisory committee. Salary increases were promised but Congress had to pass a law in order for teachers to get an increase. Teachers had not had a salary increase in over five years. To make matters worse, the area bus service was advertising for new drivers with a starting wage of $6,500 with only a high school education. Meanwhile a teacher will a college degree and all the necessary requirements was still making $4,700, and there was an immediate need of a salary adjustment.

President Simons called for a one-day walk out to lobby Congress. Surprisingly, 2,500 teachers’ called in sick and participated in this walk out. The school board immediately declared a holiday so that no teacher would lose pay or be reprimanded and Congress passed a bill giving teachers an 18% increase.

By 1972 teacher’s shortages were beginning to have an effect on the DC school system. Class sizes were increasing and the district was not hiring. With a failure to address these issues the membership voted to strike on September 19th. The two major issues were the lack of teachers and funds for supplies. A DC reporter asked a 5th grader why she thought her teacher was on strike and she began telling the reporter that everyday her teacher brought in supplies from home for the students, including pencils, so they could do their work. The article was titled ‘Pencils for Allison’ which solidified the support of the community for the teachers.

The strike ended on October 2nd, and the school district hired 182 new teachers, repaired crumbling buildings and increased the funds to buy more textbooks and supplies. After the strike was over the union was fined $50,000. President Simons arranged to have the money used as scholarship fund for graduating seniors to attend college. The WTU still awards two $20,000 cholarships each year to two students who plan to pursure careers in teaching.