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Asheville school district is first in state to give educator union a seat at the table

Timothy Lloyd, president of the local union, the Asheville City Association of Educators, marks on a map that North Carolina is officially a state where a “Meet, Confer, Collaborate” procedure exists.
Photo by Laura Hackett
Timothy Lloyd, president of the local union, the Asheville City Association of Educators, marks on a map that North Carolina is officially a state where a “Meet, Confer, Collaborate” procedure exists.

Members of North Carolina’s local teacher union, the Asheville City Association of Educators, made history this week when they struck a deal with the Asheville City Schools administration to create a “Meet, Confer, Collaborate” procedure.

The approach creates a new avenue for educators who have traditionally been locked out of the decision-making process in school systems. Statewide, collective bargaining for educators and other public sector workers has been banned since 1959, limiting the ability of teachers unions to advocate for raises and policy decisions.

Asheville is the first school district in the state to try this move, which gives union educators a formal seat at the table for the major decisions made by the school district.

On Monday afternoon, educators from across the state gathered on the front steps of Asheville High School on a cold, windy evening to celebrate what they consider a big win for teacher’s unions.

The work being done here in Asheville is part of a larger movement across this state to elevate educator voices, improve working conditions, and strengthen our public schools,” President of North Carolina Association of Educators Tamika Walker-Kelly said as educators cheered behind her.

Local educators have advocated for the policy for more than a year. Superintendent Maggie Fehrman called the decision “historic” and something she hopes other school districts will model.

“We will be able to show how much this procedure will be able to help advocate for our staff, bring them to the table and let everyone know that they've got an equal voice in what happens in their district,” Fehrman said.

Union members will elect between five and seven representatives to represent the more than 300 educators who belong to the group.

The policy allows educators eight meetings per year with the school administration and an opportunity to make formal and written policy recommendations, according to Timothy Lloyd, president of the local union, the Asheville City Association of Educators.

In those meetings, elected representatives can discuss “anything that is important to staff,” Lloyd said, from pay schedule to bus routes to staffing.

“Understaffing has been a problem for many years,” Lloyd told BPR. “It’s definitely something that's going to take a multi-pronged approach. It's more than just giving staff more money.”

For Carol Smith Hill, an instructional assistant for exceptional children at Asheville High School, staffing is more than just a number’s game.

“When I was a student in ACS, half of the teachers in our district were Black,” she said. “When I worked at Montford North Star Academy last year, we had no Black teachers on staff. It's a problem we all recognize,” she said. “When minority students don't see themselves in their teachers, it hurts their sense of belonging and also impacts their achievement as students.”

The problem is nuanced, she said, but having the perspective of more educators could help.

“This is a complex problem with no quick fix. It's one that requires a large and diverse group of minds to tackle together. And it's one that we, as staff in our schools, must be a part of addressing,” she said.

The first development session for the new program is slated to take place Wednesday, April 2nd from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. in the Asheville Middle School Media Center.

Laura Hackett joined Blue Ridge Public Radio in June 2023. Originally from Florida, she moved to Asheville more than six years ago and in that time has worked as a writer, journalist, and content creator for organizations like AVLtoday, Mountain Xpress, and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. She has a degree in creative writing from Florida Southern College, and in 2023, she completed the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY's Product Immersion for Small approoms program. In her free time, she loves exploring the city by bike, testing out new restaurants, and hanging out with her dog Iroh at French Broad River Park.
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