The Courage to Collaborate

In The Courage to Collaborate, school turnaround expert Ken Futernick makes the case that collaboration between school management and teacher unions is a necessary condition for educational improvement. The author cites evidence showing that collaboration often leads to increased trust, stronger professional relationships, better policies, better implementation of programs and, ultimately, to better outcomes for students.

Drawing on new research, his own experience, and the experience of dozens of other district and union leaders, Futernick details key features and benefits of labor-management collaboration. He also identifies and addresses several obstacles preventing its widespread adoption, including resistance to change, myths about what collaboration really means, skepticism about unions, lack of technical support, and misguided education policy.

The Courage to Collaborate recommends strategies and tactics for educators, policy makers, and others interested in embracing collaboration over confrontation. Both sides--unions and management--must make changes so that collaboration becomes the norm, rather than the exception, Futernick argues.

While not sufficient in itself, labor-management collaboration is a necessary ingredient for creating an education system in which all students have an opportunity to attend good schools.
About the Author: Ken Futernick is an educational consultant to schools, school districts, and policy makers across the United States. He's a member of a team supporting the California Labor-Management Initiative, which provides technical assistance to state and local school leaders who are pursuing labor-management collaboration.

Futernick began his career as an elementary teacher near Sacramento and, after earning his MA and PhD in education at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked at California State University, Sacramento, for twenty years. There, he taught courses in education and conducted research on teacher retention, educational policy, and preservice teacher training programs. He also served as chair of the Department of Teacher Education for three years.

In 2008, Futernick helped found and direct the School Turnaround Center at WestEd, a national nonprofit educational research and service organization based in San Francisco. He and his colleagues helped school leaders across the nation improve student outcomes by strengthening teaching and learning conditions and targeted professional development programs for teachers and administrators. He conducted research on labor-management collaboration, and he coauthored several publications on this subject, including a chapter he wrote with Adam Urbanski for the book The State Role in School Turnaround.

He lives with his wife, Joy, in the Sierra foothills of California. He can be reached at kenfuternick.org.