Earlier this year, teachers at KIPP AMP Charter School in New York City voted to unionize, drawing attention to the implications of charter unionization and the broader role of teachers unions in supporting and improving teachers' work.

Education Sector's 2008 survey of teachers, Waiting to Be Won Over: Teachers Speak on the Profession, Unions, and Reform, revealed a mix of opinions about the role of unions in school reform. Teachers believe unions are essential, particularly for safeguarding jobs, but they are also surprisingly open to change and believe that unions should be too.

Following from this survey, Education Sector is pleased to host an online discussion with a panel of public school (both charter and traditional) teachers and education policy experts. Join us online July 1–2, 2009, to discuss the role of teachers unions in the daily work of teachers and schools. The panelists will address key questions such as: What attracted you to teaching and where you teach? Was unionization a factor? What are the biggest challenges you face in your work? And, what do you perceive as the pros and cons of belonging to a teachers union?

This discussion will feature current and former public school teachers from across the country, including Laura Bornfreund, a former Florida teacher who now works for Common Core; Julie Eisenband, a teacher and adviser at SAGE Academy Charter School in Brooklyn Park, Minn.; Arthur Goldstein, who teaches English as a Second Language at Francis Lewis High School in Queens, N.Y.; Caitlin Hollister, a third-grade teacher from Boston Public Schools; and Bruce William Smith from Green Dot Public Schools in Los Angeles. Education policy expert Paul T. Hill from the Center on Reinventing Public Education will also participate. Education Sector's Andrew Rotherham will serve as moderator.

Read through the transcript of this online discussion.

The Joyce Foundation provided funding for this project. We thank the foundation for its support but acknowledge that the views presented during this discussion are those of the panelists alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the foundation, or the panelists' respective organizations.