Union says Urban Pathways charter school teachers being cut over organization efforts

Nearly three dozen teachers at Urban Pathways K-5 charter school in Downtown Pittsburgh have filed to unionize with the American Federation of Teachers labor union.

According to AFT Pennsylvania, administrators at Urban Pathways K-5 doled out non-renewal contracts to some staff and fired one employee in response to March 22 unionization efforts at the charter school. AFT Pennsylvania has filed complaints of unfair labor practices with a federal agency in response.

Multiple requests for comment to Urban Pathways K-5 were not returned.

Typically, teachers at the 350-student charter elementary school are given contracts on a year-to-year basis, and told in May or June the whether contracts will be renewed, according to AFT. Instead, AFT Pennsylvania president Arthur G. Steinberg said multiple non-renewal letters were given to “union-supporting” staff just days after school administrators discovered teachers intent to organize.

“Are we really to believe that was just a coincidence?” said Steinberg.

Urban Pathways K-5 is a charter school that was established in 2011. It serves students predominantly from Pittsburgh’s school district, but also from Wilkinsburg, Sto-Rox and more than a dozen other Pittsburgh-area school districts. It is not the same school as Urban Pathways 6-12, which is also located in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Urban Pathways also focuses on teaching students with reading disabilities. The school was audited in 2013 by Pennsylvania’s Auditor General.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run. In the Pittsburgh area over the years, hundreds of teachers across several charter schools have successfully unionized, including teachers at Propel Schools in 2021 and at Pittsburgh’s Environmental Charter School in 2018.

Katie Sukenik is a teacher at Environmental Charter School and President of the Alliance for Charter School Employees (AFT Local 6056), which represents educators and staff at charter schools. She criticized the alleged retaliation against Urban Pathways teachers. Sukenik said learning and working conditions at the school won’t improve until teachers are given the right to collectively bargain.

“This will protect educators who speak out when they see things headed in the wrong direction from facing retaliation, as we believe has already happened at Urban Pathways K-5,” said Sukenik. “We are proud of our soon-to-be union siblings at Urban Pathways K-5, and will have their backs the way they deserve.”