In the Duanesburg Central School District, 2022 was a contentious year. Two anti-teacher and anti-public education community members were elected to the Board of Education and, even though they were in the minority, tried to change the culture of the schools. Talk of freezing teacher pay, ignoring contracts and eliminating administrator stability permeated board meetings.
With two more seats up for grabs and two more anti-teacher candidates running, the Duanesburg Teachers Association knew they were staring down the real possibility of an anti-public education majority. So, for the first time ever, they got involved and endorsed two candidates for school board.
“We did a questionnaire survey and sent it out to all four candidates running for the board of education,” said Shannon Gordon, co-president of the Duanesburg TA. Only two answered the questions. The DTA then had a virtual meeting to determine who to endorse. “The two candidates who sent back the surveys ... were candidates who were pro-public schools.”
The union sent out three separate mailers to the community, and teachers made phone calls and sent text messages to encourage people to back the pro-union candidates. The DTA also got help from 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and Duanesburg native Emma White, who recorded a robocall for the candidates.
“Our goal was to get as many people out to vote as possible,” said Gordon.
With the largest turnout for an in-person vote in recent memory, the two candidates endorsed by the DTA won, continuing a pro-public-schools majority.
“It was good for us, and good for Duanesburg,” said Spencer Falco, DTA co-president. “It’s a “W” in the column.”
But the union didn’t do it alone.
“I got connected with another group of people here who did meetings every Monday night, and they had their own things that they would do but we combined messaging so that the messages from both groups, the DTA and them, were very similar,” said Gordon.
“Once they understood, the community was very supportive,” said Falco.
The union also qualified for a VOTE-COPE Solidarity Grant.
Through organizing and community engagement, the DTA secured an immediate future for their union siblings and their students. But they aren’t done yet. Next year’s board elections see three seats up for grabs, where a win could immediately put anti-teacher forces into the majority. The Duanesburg teachers have already begun preparing for next year’s races.
“We are definitely going to start early,” Gordon said. “Candidates have come forward who we are already looking at.”