Defeated teachers union president challenges election results

Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington Teachers Union, has challenged a recent vote that led to his defeat by challenger Elizabeth Davis, throwing the election results into doubt. While Saunders hopes for a new round of voting, it’s unclear whether one will happen.

The election may imperil a tentative contract agreement between Saunders and DC Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson that provided for, among other things, an extended school day. Davis has said that she’s undecided on the issue.

Saunders lost a July 1 election to Davis, a more militant candidate, by 79 votes out of 839 cast. As reported by Emma Brown in the Washington Post, he believes that the results were flawed because ballots were sent to teachers who were ineligible to vote, either because they had retired or lost their jobs before the election. Saunders also says that Davis shouldn’t have asked principals to publicize a campaign event, and that the election was held too early because his term should run until December 2013.

Davis dismissed these complaints and says she plans to take office August 1. But resolving the dispute could take a while. Saunders has filed his complaint with the union’s elections committee, which has no deadline for issuing its decision. And once it rules, the losing candidate can appeal to the WTU’s parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers.

Whoever wins, it seems that DCPS students and their parents will be the losers, at least in the short term. DCPS won’t want to enter into contract negotiations with a union president whose legitimacy is uncertain, and the issue of extended school hours will remain up in the air.

Davis claims that what’s needed is “a better school day, not a longer school day.” But given the magnitude of the gap between white and minority school performance in DCPS, it’s clear that some schools need both in order for their students to catch up.