By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just when it appeared the Washington Teachers Union was headed in a more radical direction with a newly-elected anti-reform president, there may be cause for hope.

Current WTU President Nathan Saunders, who was defeated by teacher Elizabeth Davis in the recent union election, has appealed the results of the contest, claiming the possibility of widespread election fraud, according to the Washington Post.

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Saunders lost the election by a 459-380 vote. But Saunders is contending that the union elections committee sent ballots to 350 teachers who retired by June 30, making then ineligible to vote, according to the news report.

He’s also claiming that 89 laid off teachers and 54 fired teachers also received ballots, even though they were not eligible to vote. It’s not clear how many of the ineligible teachers sent in ballots, the news report said.

Saunders believes there should be a new election. It’s not known how long it will take the union’s elections committee to act on his protest, the news story said.

“A lot of folks were quite surprised with the results, including myself,” Saunders was quoted as saying.

There are certainly many moderates who hope Saunders is successful. He has been working on a new collective bargaining agreement that would have resulted in longer school days for staff and students.  He has been generally receptive to negotiating with the district over many types of education reforms, hoping to curb the growing number of students enrolling in city charter schools, according to news reports.

Davis, on the other hand, questions the need for longer school days, wants to cap the number of charter schools and limit school choice, and believes all D.C. charter schools should be staffed by union teachers.

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If she survives the protest, Davis can probably be counted on to turn the clock backward on much-needed education reform in D.C.

But now Saunders may have a legitimate argument and another election may take place. Bad news could turn into good news over the next few weeks.