Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN)

History of TURN From the very beginning, TURN’s purpose has been to challenge teacher union leaders to take steps to promote teachers as professionals, advance a broad based new unionism, and link professionalism and new unionism to ways for improving student learning. TURN is a union-led effort to restructure teachers unions to help promote the kinds of reforms that will lead to better learning and higher achievement for all students (see, Proposal to Pew Charitable Trusts). TURN’s intended goal is to explore, develop, and demonstrate models that lead to the restructuring of unions so that they will become more responsive and responsible in organizing around projects designed to improve student learning. In July 1995, Adam Urbanski, President of the Rochester Teachers Association, and the late Helen Bernstein, former President of the United Teachers of Los Angeles, CA., both local union leaders at the time, convened a group of progressive teacher union leaders from 21 urban union locals to discuss how educational reform has evolved at the local level. The group discussed how educational reforms and massive cuts in financing were undermining public education. They recognized that many school districts were trying to reform their schools, but rarely were the teacher unions included. This conversation led to the creation of the Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN) in 1996.