The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers is a union in flux.

        Recognized nationally for taking risks with education reforms, the union saw the backlash of those efforts in a recent election: A new president and her entire slate were overwhelming voted into office.

        President-elect Susan Taylor, who will be sworn in Wednesday, will inherit a union on the cutting edge, but one in which many teachers are uncomfortable with the education experiments.

        How the CFT changes and works with administrators will determine the success of the 42,000-student district.

Sue Taylor (right), new president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, looks over a University of Cincinnati catalog with Alexandria Taher, 17, at Hughes Center. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Right now, there is much work to be done.

        The Cincinnati school district is in “academic emergency” — the lowest ranking on the state's four-tiered scale of school effectiveness, which rates schools based on test scores, attendance, graduation and dropout rates.

        “The union represents the real practitioner in the schools, and if the mission is to increase student achievement, the union needs to be more adept at making the change,” Ms. Taylor said.

        “We've got to be a union respected nationally for reforms and our results, and respected by our membership for resources and job security.”

        The 3,100-member union last fall started the nation's first teacher pay-for-performance plan. The performance part is being implemented now. It's an innovative way to assess — and eventually pay — teachers for how well they do their jobs, not how long they've been teaching.

        Yet that program makes many teachers anxious — and it fueled Ms. Taylor's overwhelming 1,280-364 victory last month over incumbent CFT President Rick Beck. Much of her campaign focused on making the new teacher evaluation system more palatable to teachers by implementing the standards teachers are judged on piece-by-piece instead of all at once.

FACTS

• Name: Cincinnati Federation of Teachers     • What: A union that represents teachers in Cincinnati Public Schools.     • Membership: 3,100 teachers.     • National affiliation: The American Federation of Teachers.     • Local offices: 1520 Madison Road, Suite 101, Walnut Hills; 961-2272; www.cft-aft.org.     • Dues: All Cincinnati teachers are union members. Full-fledged members pay $536 a year. Those who enjoy union benefits without voting rights pay “fair share” dues of $468 a year.

        “We need to look at reform and make changes in a way that's doable,” Ms. Taylor said. “We are now asking teachers to work harder and smarter. What are we going to do to make sure their rights and work conditions are improved?”

        The resounding rejection of Mr. Beck indicates many teachers are unhappy with the way some reforms are being implemented. Many teachers said they identified with Ms. Taylor's call for a more democratic union, where everyone's voice is heard.

        “Education reform is important and student achievement is really what we are all about, but classroom teachers also understand there are a lot of issues involved in raising achievement,” said Diana Porter, who teaches at Hughes Center with Ms. Taylor.

        “People saw that Sue would consider many aspects of the problem and start discussions. We've become complacent as teachers. We've had a strong union that has done good things, but it's a two-way street. This is our profession, too.”

Beck

        Teachers union survival depends on improving the quality of public schools, said Jeffrey Mirel, a professor of educational studies and history at the University of Michigan.

        “If they don't keep their eye on that prize, then I'm not sure the future will be terribly rosy.”

        While Cincinnati's teachers union still works on pay and work issues, most of the union's energy is spent redesigning the way teachers work and how schools and teachers are evaluated.

        And because the union is a trailblazer, the nation is watching.

        Ralph Jackson, since 1981 the union's first vice president, said all members must be informed for the union to be a success.

        “I think we've had a reputation of being different,” Mr. Jackson said. “We haven't been a traditional union. We've been willing to work with management to try to implement reforms that improve student achievement. We've done things unions don't usually agree to with management.

        “In some cases we paid the price with our membership by not bringing them along.”

        In 1985, the union became one of the first in the country to start a peer-evaluation system that removed poor teachers from their jobs. Since then, 146 teachers have been dismissed.

        Union proposals to restructure large high schools into smaller schools, and ideas about how to redesign low-performing schools by eliminating staff and starting over, are at work in Cincinnati's 75 public schools.

        All of these reforms were proposed by the union, which acts as a partner in each program. Part of the effort includes public awareness of union efforts to improve the profession.

        Chot VanAusdall, a remodeling contractor and father of two daughters, said he didn't know until recently that the union started many programs now at use in the schools.

        “The idea that you're paid on the quality of your teaching is an excellent idea,” Mr. VanAusdall said. “The new system rewards the good teachers, and if there are those that are not good enough then they don't have a job. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it should run.”

        The success of an innovative union depends on a strong partnership between the administration and union leaders, and that can be a difficult thing to achieve, Mr. Mirel said.

        Superintendent Steven Adamowski said he sometimes sees the union as overstepping its bounds. But he said Mr. Beck fostered a more productive relationship between the union and the district. He expects that to continue with Ms. Taylor.

        She agrees.

        “There's a big fear out there that we are going to turn back the clock. There is lots of misinformation out there,” Ms. Taylor said. “I am reform-minded. But often we implement things, and we do not take the second or third look to make sure it's working in the interest of kids.”

        In many ways, Mr. Beck said, it's easier for the union to get better pay for teachers if members are willing to take on the extra roles that come with working for better schools.

        “Our future is tied to the health of our industry,” Mr. Beck said.

        Debbie Liberi, a teacher at Shroder Paideia School, works with fifth-year college students from the University of Cincinnati who teach part time as interns. She said the program ensures the district a pipeline of some of the best new teachers.

        Autumn Sacksteder might be one of them. She is an intern at Shroder who teaches two biology classes every day.

        “I feel that I'm getting more valuable experience than I did as a student teacher,” said Ms. Sacksteder, 23. ""This is more than being a student teacher. I'm in charge of a class, and the teachers here don't hold your hand. They push you to do more than you think you could.”

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