After election review, Brown to head city teachers union
Incumbent English fought the results of May vote, claiming rules violations
After investigating a contested Baltimore Teachers Union election this spring, the American Federation of Teachers concluded Thursday that there would be no new election, declaring Diamonté Brown the winner.
“There have been a number of challenges to the election process with each side demanding fairness,” Brown said at a news conference Thursday, “and the challenges reaffirm that we are committed to the democratic process.
“Now we will work together to advance members’ interest,” Brown said.
As the new president, Brown told The Baltimore Sun, her top goals will be to increase membership engagement, fight for equity and increase partnerships between the teaching professions, such as teachers and paraprofessionals.
The 37-year-old middle school teacher defeated the incumbent, Marietta English, who has held the position for more than 20 years. English issued a statement before the results were announced officially at a news conference at BTU headquarters.
In her statement, English said the AFT report “clearly lays out that egregious violations took place during the election process and I strongly disagree with the conclusion that even with these violations a new election would not be held. This decision does an injustice to our union. It has been the honor of my lifetime to lead the educators of the city of Baltimore.”
English lost the election held in May by
a vote of 901 to 839. At the time, English claimed the election was riddled with rules violations and said she could not concede.
But the AFT review sided with Brown. In her statement, English refers to her accomplishments and says that “our fight is not over.”
She said her caucus would remain active and visible.
“Now is the time for us to move forward to strengthen the democracy of our union and continue being a strong organization that always leads with honesty and integrity,” the statement said.
When asked about how this election would affect her relationship with English, Brown said, “We have a good relationship, and I hope to continue to work with her.”
Brown will be leading a divided union. The executive board is split between teachers and paraprofessionals.
Her slate, The Union We Deserve, captured the majority of teacher positions, but the English slate took all the paraprofessional spots, according to the preliminary results.
The English slate’s teacher candidates are all also challenging the election results.
Brown said her first action will be to speak with the entire paraprofessional slate one-on-one to “listen to what they have to say and use that to guide us toward being a united front.”
“Even if we’re not on the same page, everyone deserves to be heard,” she said earlier this spring. “I don’t think people have to be on the same page to get work done. Everyone has the same goal” of bettering the lives of teachers, students and families.
“I don’t think people have to be on the same page to get work done. Everyone has the same goal.” Baltimore Sun intern Juliana Kim contributed to this article.