Steve Conn Suspended From Detroit Teachers Union

Steve Conn, who continues to maintain that he won the recent presidential election for the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), has been suspended from the union, along with three of his colleagues. He was suspended for disrupting the swearing in ceremony for his rival, Keith Johnson, who won the contested union election with less than a 100 votes. Hundreds of valid ballots were thrown out in the election, ballots that Conn and many others believe were unjustly invalidated. Conn asked for a recount, lost, and then won his appeal.

The suspension has no effect on Conn’s teaching assignment or pay or benefits. However, it does ban him from holding any union positions for six months, and he will not be allowed to attend any union meetings. Johnson asserts that he will remain in office and that Conn has no chance of replacing him.

Conn has often criticized the leadership of the teachers unions, calling for their removal. He has also demanded an end to NCLB and RTTT, demands that do not sit well with a union leadership that is more interested in appearing reasonable to the ruling elite so as to maintain friendly relations with them, than they are with helping teachers or students. As a consequence, he has gotten no support from the DFT parent organization, AFT.

Meanwhile, Detroit is preparing to close half of its remaining schools, massively lay off teachers, and increase class sizes to 60 students for high school classes. Keith Johnson has not only done little to resist these attacks, he has worked together with DPS administration to undermine teacher pay and working conditions.

Detroit to Shutter Half Its Schools—Class Sizes of 60

Robert Bobb, financial manager for Detroit Public Schools (DPS), has been given permission by the state of Michigan to close 70 more schools, bringing high school class sizes up to 60 students per class. This would amount to shutting down half of the city’s remaining public schools. (60 schools were already closed over the past two years.) The state superintendent, Michael Flanagan, gave the green light Monday, so long as the plan is implemented immediately.

Bob Bobb asserts that his plan is necessary to close a large DPS budget hole. However, considering the catastrophic consequences of the cuts, a more likely explanation is that Bobb is deliberately destroying DPS as a viable entity to make way for privacy hawks to swoop in and scoop up the rubble.  Arne Duncan once called Detroit ground zero in the fight for education reform, which, coming from Duncan, was certainly a call for a massive wave of privatization. In 2008, a slate of Rhee-supported pro-charter school teachers ran in DFT elections.

The rush toward privatization is not limited to the creation of more charter schools. Bobb has also steamrollered through a plan to outsource custodial services to the union-busting French firm Sodexo, $43.9 million plan that would crush AFSCME Local 347 and force maintenance workers to give up their pensions and job security.

DPS teachers have seen their pay slashed $10,000 per year for the past two years, in an agreement made with their union, the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT). This was just part of a sell-out contract made with the collaboration of the AFT and its President Randi Weingarten, seen by many as the worst teacher contract ever. In this contract, DFT President Keith Johnson gave away seniority rights, merit pay, and slashed wages and benefits.

Johnson is currently serving as president of AFT, after recent elections that were marred by corruption. Johnson claimed victory despite accusations of vote fraud, and hundreds of uncounted ballots. Challenger Steve Conn claims that he won the election by 40 votes and demanded a hand recount, which the union refused, in violation of its own rules. Johnson is now attempting to expel Conn from the union.

New Elections for Detroit Teachers Union President

The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) will hold new elections for its president, after numerous examples of election fraud were exposed leading up to Keith Johnson's contested victory. Steve Conn also claimed victory and demanded a recount (the two were less than 50 votes apart, while hundreds of ballots had been thrown out).

Union Thug: Challenge My Authority & Feel My Wrath

Zombie Union Boss Eats Its Own (by Mark Merek)

Keith Johnson, Randi Weingarten’s pal in Detroit, ed deform collaborator, and possibly the president of DFT, has filed internal union charges against his rival, Steve Conn, and two other union activists, Heather Miller and Tracy Arneau, in an attempt to quash opposition to his corrupt rule.

Johnson claimed victory in recent Detroit federation of Teachers (DFT) elections for president, despite accusations of vote fraud, and hundreds of uncounted ballots. Steve Conn claims that he won the election by 40 votes and demanded a hand recount, which the union refused, in violation of its own rules. Johnson has also been a key collaborator with the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Financial Manager, Robert Bobb, in privatizing DPS, shutting schools, firing teachers or demoting them to “coaches.”

In related news, DPS custodians and their union, AFSCME Local 347, plan to fight DPS’s plan to privatize facilities operations, with a $43.9 million contract with Sodexo. The Sodexo contract does not guarantee that custodians will be represented by unions. Sodexo has a long history of union busting and paying poverty wages throughout the world, including in the U.S.