For the first time in nearly 170 years, staff at Illinois State University’s Laboratory Schools, have formally moved to unionize.
The Lab Schools Association, a group of around 120 staffers from Thomas Metcalf [pre-K to 8th grade] and University High schools, filed a petition for representation with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board [IELRB] in late June.
The petition is the culmination of a six-month long organizational effort that marked the first time staff at the two application-based public schools that enroll around 1,000 students organized since their start with ISU in 1857.
While there were other factors driving support for unionization, U-High English teacher Meg Flanagan said the arrest of a beloved, former longtime teacher and coach who was substitute teaching last fall served was a catalyst. Though an arrest was made following a student’s allegation of battery, the McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to press charges and the matter was dropped.
"It left a really bad taste, I think, in a lot of people's mouths — especially people who knew that person, and especially that person — to have the organization that you gave so much of your time and energy to… say, 'Well, you're on your own,'" Flanagan said in an interview.
"We all, very much, were immediately thinking about, 'What do I do? Or what I have I done, or will do, that might get me into some hot water with a student, parent, another teacher, administrator — and do I have any protection from that in case it was misperceived?'"
Flanagan, a teacher of 14 years who’s spent the past three at U-High, said other issues that involved potential infringement of compensation, work environment and work time also helped generate support for the union.
“I think those things kind of snowballed into people who weren’t sure if they wanted to start a union or join a union were galvanized in those moments where they realized, ‘Maybe we should have something, because right now we have nothing,’” Flanagan said.
A spokesperson from ISU said the university had recently been notified by the IELRB regarding the petition and added that it “respects the legal right of Lab School employees to seek union representation under the processes set forth in the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.”
'Pretty isolated'
Sarah Hlade, a teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Thomas Metcalf, said her support was driven by a desire for herself and her peers to feel more included. Hlade, along with some of her peers, works within ISU’s lab school, but also falls under the umbrella of the Heart of Illinois Low Incidence Association [HILIA], a group of educators serving students with certain disabilities.
“Not so much myself, but I’ve talked with coworkers who have felt pretty isolated and I just want to make sure there’s a voice for them as well,” Hlade said. “Some other staff within HILIA have felt like they haven’t had a chance or like they could be part of everything within the lab schools. [I] just want this to really be a voice for everyone that can be heard and they can be protected.”
Despite being just two years into her career, Hlade said she’s already seen the profession shift significantly from what it entailed while she was in college. The expectations placed upon teachers, she said, have increased, while support has simultaneously lagged.
“With even just students in my realm, with disabilities, there’s so many instances popping up where we don’t have the support that we need. [We’re] seeing a lot of parents not really understanding the work that we’re doing — and there’s such a lack of support and understanding that, a lot of times, it falls into teachers really getting the short end of the stick,” she said. "As a final result, I would like to see everyone feeling like they have a voice within the lab schools — whether they're aides, interpreters, paraprofessionals, everyone just feeling like they have a voice."
The IELRB has a 120-day deadline to decide the matter, though if ISU were to object to any part of the filing, that deadline would essentially be moot as objections then trigger a hearing process that, in turn, can trigger appeals.
If recognized by the state, the Lab Schools Education Association would fall under the Illinois Education Association that also represents teachers and education staff in District 87 and Unit 5, among others.
The unionization of ISU’s lab schools staff comes on the heels of that of tenure and tenure-track faculty. The IELRB recognized the United Faculty of Illinois State University earlier this year. The 650-member group is currently bargaining its first contract, a negotiation process that has been ongoing since late February.
