Maya McFadden Photos
Teachers union challenge slate members Leslie Blatteau, Michael Soares, Mia Comulada Breuler, Kirsten Hopes-McFadden, Jonathan Berryman, and Jennifer Graves.
A “Fighting for Our Future” challenger slate is running its campaign the way it plans to run the teachers union if elected in two weeks — pushing for member re-empowerment and “circular” leadership.
The slate, made up of 31 New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) staff members, is running against a slate affiliated with the union’s 15-year incumbent president for positions on the New Haven Federation of Teachers executive board.
Union members should have already received their election ballots as of last week. They have until Dec. 7 to submit their ballots.
Metropolitan Business Academy social studies teacher Leslie Blatteau heads the “Fighting for Our Future” slate. She is challenging incumbent President David Cicarella, who is running for reelection with a slate of 24 school staff, two-thirds of whom are running for re-election with a promise to continue bringing decades of experience to union decision-making during uncertain times. (Click here for a recent story detailing the members and positions of the more the Cicarella/DeLucia slate.)
The challenge slate, dubbed “Fighting for Our Future,” argues that the union needs to change course, both with fresh faces and new ideas, including how to go about organizing at the grassroots.
Her team promises to apply skills honed as classroom teachers to union leadership —skills like clarity, relationship building, and creativity.
“We need to remind teachers that they do have power,” Blatteau said. “We’re going to prioritize clarity, because I think clarity helps people feel engaged. If people feel confused, they tune out.”
The slate also promises to join forces with other school-based unions representing paraprofessionals, custodial staff, food service employees, clerical staff, nurses, and bus drivers.
The candidates have been going “text-to-text” to hold one-on-one conversations with school staffers throughout the district as part of the campaign.
5 Core Commitments
The slate went on a retreat after hundreds of conversations with members to craft five core commitments.
Those commitments include negotiating a stronger contract, improving the working conditions in schools, honoring and strengthening union bylaws, engaging and supporting union members, and building coalitions in the community.
The slate originally came together last year over a book club gathering. Members of the slate reassembled in a private home one recent afternoon to discuss their experiences on the campaign trail.
The members described the slate’s mission as a “renovation project” that will refocus leadership decisions and operations.
“Our goal is to have the strength of the teacher voice clearly articulated,” said Barnard Environment Studies Magnet School Jonathan Berryman, who is running for executive board vice-president for elementary schools.
Berryman said in the past the union has made decisions without input from the teachers and without transparency about that decision-making.
“There’s some walls that need to come down and some spaces that need to be opened so all of us can see exactly how the union flows,” he said.
Kirsten Hopes-McFadden, Michael Soares, and Leslie Blatteau.
Blatteau added that the union will work best when more people are involved and engaged. “This is not about this year or next year. This is about our union 10, 20, 30 years from now,” she said
If elected or not, Blatteau said, she will advocate for the union to create a teacher retention committee to get a better idea of why staff members are leaving the district to later pinpoint in what ways the union contract should improve work conditions.
Fair Haven School teacher Michael Soares, who is running for re-election for preK‑8 board representative, said he has been recruited by suburban school districts with “higher pay and more support” several times in the past. He is dedicated to staying in New Haven, he said.
Members of the slate have sat down individually with hundreds of union members to listen to their concerns and discuss the union’s bylaws and 2020 – 2023 contract, which are also linked on the website under “resources.” The slate promises to create a communication tool to give school staff the ability to raise concerns about work and building conditions.
Focus On Stewards
Mia Comulada Breuler, Jonathan Berryman, and Jennifer Graves.
One solution proposed by the slate is to re-empower building stewards through training sessions and meeting with stewards at other schools.
Engineering & Science University Magnet School (ESUMS) history teacher Kirsten Hopes-McFadden is running for executive board vice-president for middle schools. She has been a building steward at ESUMS for the past three years.
Hopes-McFadden said re-empowering building stewards will keep the union from being “top heavy.”
“Empowering stewards will empower teachers,” she said.
The slate agreed that building steward training offered by the union is needed to provide membership with an accessible steward familiar with the union contract and the school culture, and to provide support to educators.
“When I became a steward, I asked for training, and there was nothing,” Hopes-McFadden said. “I think stewards just don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Soares has been a building steward for 11 years. He described stewards as “real people who are in the schools, in the classrooms, supporting teachers.” As a veteran steward, he said, he feels he would benefit from meeting other building stewards to learn more about the position.
He said training would also be beneficial in providing stewards with clear expectations of their positions and a “universal steward system that can be streamlined across all schools.”
Special education pre‑K teacher Jennifer Graves, who is running for board vice-president for special services, recalled talking one-on-one with library media specialists, school counselors, speech pathologists, social workers, teachers, and literacy coaches to hear about members concerns.
If elected, Graves said, she will advocate for the new contract to set caseload caps for special ed teachers, who are seeing a huge increase in students.
Wilbur Cross High School counselor Mia Comulada Breuler, who is running for executive secretary, added that an active membership will help the union advocate for state level concerns of educators.
“It’s not just about us. We’re trying to take care of teachers so that truly our future, the next generation, the children are taken care of,” Berryman said.