The Detroit Federation of Teachers' Contract: The Worst Ever?

Weingarten played a key role in the negotiations, as did DFT President, Keith Johnson. Indeed, some insiders claim the bargaining team was unaware of the substance of the deal before it was presented to the rank and file. Detroit Democratic Mayor Dave Bing (yes, basketball) immediately declared the contract to be a model for city workers. And it will become the baseline for many urban school districts. While it may be more important to determine how it was this phantasmagoric sell-out was achieved, rightfully impatient readers will want to know: What price did school workers pay to win this praise from Weingarten?




In bullets, this is it:


*A three year deal with no raise til year three; that predicated on the district’s ability to pay. *$500 per month will be deducted from each educator’s pay, up to $10,000, presumably “deferred,” until they quit or are laid off–again predicated on the district’s ability to pay. (The Detroit Public Schools face a budget deficit of $270 million, growing each day; DPS teeters on bankruptcy–a repeated threat in negotiations-- which would wipe out any possibility of repayment). This clause reads like a modern inverted bracero program. Bracero pay was withheld in order to force workers back to Mexico (where they often found the money vanished). In this case, the deferral is meant to force out senior workers–who may share the bracero experience. *Merit pay based on test scores,




*$30 million in health benefit cuts (losing Blue Cross and coverage for out-of-state children, like college students, completely), *Charter ("Priority") Schools where teachers will lose all tenure protections, *Teachers evaluating teachers. The DFT contract has turned up, piecemeal, in many a city, but no city has fully put together such a reactionary package