Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) issued a highly-anticipated ruling on the jurisdictional disagreement that has stalled a unionization bid by teachers at three Civitas charter schools in Chicago. The board determined that as a for-profit agency, Civitas -- which is owned by the non-profit Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS) -- is a private entity. As a result, the organizing campaign must petition the NLRB, rather than the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB).

As a result, its teachers are not subject to the same organizing protections as state employees. The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) explains the case Civitas' made to the board, via a press release: 

Civitas argued that its charter schools are essentially private schools not accountable to the public, despite receiving taxpayer dollars. In the brief Civitas submitted to the NLRB, it claimed it is a for-profit company not required to provide any type of annual presentation to any government body to justify its annual expenditures, and that it has no “direct personal accountability” to any government public officials.

Civitas' position sends a disconcerting signal about the oversight Chicago Public Schools (CPS) applies to these taxpayer-funded insititutions.

Still, CPS officials have sided with the charters in the dispute, despite pushback from numerous state lawmakers. Back in early May, nearly three dozen members of the General Assembly fired off a letter to CPS' chief Ron Huberman urging him to reaffirm that charter schools are in fact public institutions. Then, during the final days of the spring session, the legislature passed SB 1984, a bill establishing that all charter schools "shall comply with all provisions of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act."

It's unlikely that this new legislation will impact the campaign by the teachers at the three Civitas schools. For the time being, the teachers there -- three-quarters of whom already signed cards stating they wanted to join the  Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS) -- are moving forward with their unionization bid. Already, outside supporters of the teachers are calling on Civitas not to revert to the intimidation tactics so often used by employers during unionization drives. More from the IFT statement that was released today: 

“We urge Civitas administrators to work with the teachers and staff at the school to ensure the election is conducted fairly and quickly,” said Martha Biondi, chair of Chicago Workers’ Rights Board and an associate professor of African American studies and history at Northwestern University. “We applaud the teachers and staff at the school for working to have a say in their school in order to improve learning and teaching conditions that will ultimately benefit the children.”

But one question remains: If Gov. Quinn signs SB 1984 into law, will it preempt the NLRB's authority over future union drives?

UPDATE: In response to that last question, Gail Purkey of the Illinois Federation of Teachers had this response:

We believe that once SB 1984 is signed into law it will be clear that all who work in a charter school are public employees. That was clearly the legislative intent when the charter school law was enacted in the mid-1990’s, and the representatives want to clear up any confusion on that issue, which is why they so clearly specified it in SB 1984.

Going forward, however, it should be clear to every charter holder that the men and women who work in Illinois charter schools are covered by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.