TURN: Teacher Union Reform Network

Union President Profile

February 20, 2015

William Wong, president of the San Gabriel Education Association, in San Gabriel, California, was profiled in Education Week's Policy Notebook blog, written by Sara Mead. Wong's vision of union leadership is a great fit with our work in CalTURN, and he gives us a shout-out as well:

[Unions] should be the leaders of the craft. I think unions can be advocates for students and also advocates for working conditions, salaries, and benefits for teachers. I believe that unions--not just teachers unions--can play a productive role in supporting fair working conditions and compensation for employees. But when it comes to teachers unions, we should also be the people throwing out ideas for instruction and school improvement. This does happen already, but I think it's often overlooked. For example, I like what CalTURN does with district-labor collaboration for the benefit of students.

I think about the idea of a guild, something like electricians. I used to work with a lot of electricians when I was a contractor and engineer. If you want to be an electrician, you go through apprenticeships, mentorship. Teaching is a totally different approach. You go to a school, and then it's your district's responsibility. I'd like to see the profession play more of an active role. It should be a badge of honor to say, "I'm a unionized teacher, I've gone through this." But that takes resources and a shift in thinking.

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