Durham Teachers’ Union Pushes for Meet-and-Confer Policy

It’s Friday, June 28.

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Welcome to the weekend, readers.

On June 10, the Durham Board of County Commissioners voted to award Durham Public Schools an additional $27 million in its 2024-25 fiscal year budget, close to 98 percent of the request from the Durham Board of Education. The vote was a culmination of negotiations between the county board, school board, and the Durham Association of Educators (DAE), the local teachers’ union. 

After an employee pay crisis in January caused turmoil throughout the school district, DAE ramped up its organizing efforts and took the opportunity to bring workers together under the banner of the union.

“The pay debacle was a spark or a catalyst, but by the time that popped off, we had already generated a petition with clear demands that came out of talking to workers across the district about what their real needs are,” Carlos Perez, a Jordan High School history teacher and member of the DAE executive board, says. “We had already been scaling up the union.” 

In just one year, union membership nearly quadrupled under the leadership of its new president, Symone Kiddoo, a former DPS student and district social worker who was elected to lead DAE in the summer of 2023.

Now, after successfully campaigning for the $27 million in resources, including increased pay, that DAE says the school district needs to stabilize and move forward, DAE leaders are demanding a permanent seat at the table with the school board to represent its members through a meet-and-confer policy.

“The union work we’ve done together this year has already transformed Durham for the better,” Kiddoo said at a press conference on June 11. “This is only the beginning. This victory will serve as an example for years to come, not just in Durham but all over North Carolina and the South. We did this.”

Have a good weekend.

—Justin

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