RASHAUN RUCKER/Detroit Free Press
“REFORM SHOULD BE DRIVEN BY THE UNION AND DEFINED BY THE UNION IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.”
KEITH JOHNSON, president, Detroit Federation of Teachers
Posted: Nov. 20, 2009
Detroit teachers' leader calls for change
BY ROCHELLE RILEY
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Twenty-nine years ago, Keith Johnson had just completed his undergraduate studies at Wayne State University and was headed to law school.
"Being a teacher was the last thing I thought I'd ever do," he said.
But his mother, a retired Detroit Public Schools teacher, convinced him to get a teaching certificate to pay his way.
"The moment I stepped into a classroom for student teaching, I knew this was what I was going to do," said Johnson, now president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers. That union is negotiating a new contract with a team led by Robert Bobb, the governor-appointed DPS emergency financial manager, who has been widely praised for curtailing corruption and changing the way the beleaguered district does business.
But if the current DPS-DFT contract negotiations are an indicator, Johnson has helped forge a new education debate in Detroit. He's calling for a reform revolution led by teachers, not administrators, that forces a conversation about children, not politics. And his union may be listening. For possibly the first time ever, it is embracing peer reviews that could weed out bad teachers. Change is in the air.
"We have to be willing to embrace change, embrace reform," said Johnson, 54. "Reform is not the enemy of progress as a union. Reform should be driven by the union and defined by the union in collaboration with the school district."
"I have respect for his intellect, knowledge of the school system, how it should work and how it functions, his tenaciousness and his focus on kids," Bobb said.
The pair's relationship is good news for children and for teachers who, at least in Detroit, have the toughest jobs in the city. Like Detroit, all DPS teachers have been defined by the worst of them. That maligns the thousands of teachers who not only have taught math and science, but saved wayward lives.
"I didn't come from a broken home," Johnson recalled. "My mother was an educator and my father was a cement mason. I was 4-foot-10 and weighed about 85 pounds. Now I'm 6-1 and 215."
Johnson's habit of beating up people who picked on him got him kicked out of Cass Tech and Central High.
His senior year at Henry Ford High School, a teacher, Ben Rosenberg, finally approached him.
"He got up in my face and told me I was the biggest waste of time and talent and space he'd ever seen in his life," Johnson recalled. "He said, 'Yeah, you can go around beating up everybody, but you're going to end up driving away many of the people who will someday be in a position to help you.'
"For this little Jewish guy to stand up to me like that ... I found it be rather profound. It really made me take inventory on myself and my life. I give him a lot of credit for turning me around."
Johnson said that Mr. Rosenberg used to send him letters of encouragement and praise, including notes about the articles Johnson wrote for the Detroit Teacher, the union newsletter.
"Mr. Rosenberg would call me or write to me how proud he was of me," Johnson said.
But Rosenberg, who died five years ago, did something else. He made Johnson come back to Henry Ford and talk to classes.
"He had me talk about my life as a young black male and how angry and misguided I'd allowed myself to become and how I transformed my life," Johnson said.
Johnson, who is married to Shenise Johnson, an executive assistant to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, is the father of three children who all attended Detroit public schools. His oldest, a Central High graduate, won an Emmy last year for his work at Fox Sports.
"As the newly elected president, I wanted him to know where my head was," Johnson said. "I told him my primary goal was to challenge my membership to embrace, define and take ownership of this profession and this school district. You don't have non-journalists defining what a good journalist is. You don't have nonphysicians establishing what makes a good physician. You don't have non-attorneys determining what constitutes a good lawyer. So why should non-educators define what a quality educator is?"
Actually, we have non-journalists defining journalism and insurance companies defining adequate medical care -- and it's not working. But that's another column.
This one is about a new day for Detroit schoolchildren and a new conversation about Detroit's public schools.
Flanagan, who recalled that conversation with Johnson, said the DFT leader is "willing to forge a 21st-Century contract" and the Detroit union "could actually lead the state on this."
"That's the hope," he said. "Bobb can't do that job alone. He needs strong union leadership and seems to have it."
For too long, Detroit has been bogged down in the wrong conversation. It has been about money and power instead of learning and children. Now, teachers, parents, administrators and elected officials are having a new conversation. With that, all things are possible.
Contact ROCHELLE RILEY: rriley99@freepress.com
"Being a teacher was the last thing I thought I'd ever do," he said.
But his mother, a retired Detroit Public Schools teacher, convinced him to get a teaching certificate to pay his way.
"The moment I stepped into a classroom for student teaching, I knew this was what I was going to do," said Johnson, now president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers. That union is negotiating a new contract with a team led by Robert Bobb, the governor-appointed DPS emergency financial manager, who has been widely praised for curtailing corruption and changing the way the beleaguered district does business.
But if the current DPS-DFT contract negotiations are an indicator, Johnson has helped forge a new education debate in Detroit. He's calling for a reform revolution led by teachers, not administrators, that forces a conversation about children, not politics. And his union may be listening. For possibly the first time ever, it is embracing peer reviews that could weed out bad teachers. Change is in the air.
"We have to be willing to embrace change, embrace reform," said Johnson, 54. "Reform is not the enemy of progress as a union. Reform should be driven by the union and defined by the union in collaboration with the school district."
The right leaders
Johnson's philosophy and efforts make clear that Bobb has a partner in rebuilding a new DPS."I have respect for his intellect, knowledge of the school system, how it should work and how it functions, his tenaciousness and his focus on kids," Bobb said.
The pair's relationship is good news for children and for teachers who, at least in Detroit, have the toughest jobs in the city. Like Detroit, all DPS teachers have been defined by the worst of them. That maligns the thousands of teachers who not only have taught math and science, but saved wayward lives.
From bully to change agent
This new reform movement, this new conversation, could be the most serendipitous event in the city since William Ford moved from County Cork, Ireland, to Greenfield Township and had a son named Henry. And ironically, the conversation is being led by a former school bully who was saved by a good teacher."I didn't come from a broken home," Johnson recalled. "My mother was an educator and my father was a cement mason. I was 4-foot-10 and weighed about 85 pounds. Now I'm 6-1 and 215."
Johnson's habit of beating up people who picked on him got him kicked out of Cass Tech and Central High.
His senior year at Henry Ford High School, a teacher, Ben Rosenberg, finally approached him.
"He got up in my face and told me I was the biggest waste of time and talent and space he'd ever seen in his life," Johnson recalled. "He said, 'Yeah, you can go around beating up everybody, but you're going to end up driving away many of the people who will someday be in a position to help you.'
"For this little Jewish guy to stand up to me like that ... I found it be rather profound. It really made me take inventory on myself and my life. I give him a lot of credit for turning me around."
Johnson said that Mr. Rosenberg used to send him letters of encouragement and praise, including notes about the articles Johnson wrote for the Detroit Teacher, the union newsletter.
"Mr. Rosenberg would call me or write to me how proud he was of me," Johnson said.
But Rosenberg, who died five years ago, did something else. He made Johnson come back to Henry Ford and talk to classes.
"He had me talk about my life as a young black male and how angry and misguided I'd allowed myself to become and how I transformed my life," Johnson said.
Johnson, who is married to Shenise Johnson, an executive assistant to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, is the father of three children who all attended Detroit public schools. His oldest, a Central High graduate, won an Emmy last year for his work at Fox Sports.
Educators defining themselves
Johnson spoke with state Superintendent Mike Flanagan about his vision last year."As the newly elected president, I wanted him to know where my head was," Johnson said. "I told him my primary goal was to challenge my membership to embrace, define and take ownership of this profession and this school district. You don't have non-journalists defining what a good journalist is. You don't have nonphysicians establishing what makes a good physician. You don't have non-attorneys determining what constitutes a good lawyer. So why should non-educators define what a quality educator is?"
Actually, we have non-journalists defining journalism and insurance companies defining adequate medical care -- and it's not working. But that's another column.
This one is about a new day for Detroit schoolchildren and a new conversation about Detroit's public schools.
Flanagan, who recalled that conversation with Johnson, said the DFT leader is "willing to forge a 21st-Century contract" and the Detroit union "could actually lead the state on this."
"That's the hope," he said. "Bobb can't do that job alone. He needs strong union leadership and seems to have it."
For too long, Detroit has been bogged down in the wrong conversation. It has been about money and power instead of learning and children. Now, teachers, parents, administrators and elected officials are having a new conversation. With that, all things are possible.
Contact ROCHELLE RILEY: rriley99@freepress.com
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