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even legal? She called the union headquarters and asked to speak to Lyle Johns, president of the teachers’ association, who told her that no one knew whether it was legal, and that was why the union was fighting so hard to prevent ratification of the charter. “You can see why the board okayed this,” he said. “They’ve always had an antiunion agenda. Our job now is to get word out to the Tyler teachers and make sure they know the consequences of voting for the charter.”
     
     
    “But the meeting’s Monday ,” she said. “That’s when we’re going to vote. No offense, but if you’re trying to get the word out, you’re doing a pretty poor job. I called you . I haven’t heard word one from the association. No e-mails, no phone calls . . .”
     
     
    Johns seemed confused. “We’ve sent out e-mails to all members in the district. We even have people canvassing neighborhoods to inform parents so they’ll put pressure to bear. This is the biggest threat we’ve ever had to face. Not only could it significantly weaken our association and affect our negotiations with the district, but it could leave all of the employees at your school unprotected and without recourse. We’re pulling out all the stops for this campaign.”
     
     
    “Something’s wrong, then,” Linda said. “The message isn’t getting through.”
     
     
    “I’ll find out what’s happening at this end, but, like you say, the vote’s Monday. We’re down to the wire here. Could I e-mail you some information and have you forward it to the teachers at your school, just in case?”
     
     
    “Of course.”
     
     
    “We’ve got to get the word out.”
     
     
    “They can really do this? Nullify our collective bargaining agreement and eliminate protections?”
     
     
    “We’d fight it in court, with backing from the state association, but similar restrictions have been upheld before. Charter’s a whole new world. There’s not much precedent. My guess is, we’d lose.”
     
     
    Linda was shocked. But when she started calling other teachers to tell them about it, she was even more shocked to learn that most of them didn’t care. Diane, fellow English instructors Ray Cheng and Steve Warren, woodshop teacher Alonso Ruiz, French teacher Mary Mercer, social studies teacher Suzanne Johnson and Linda’s other loyal allies saw the folly in getting rid of the only firewall they had against harassment and unfair disciplinary actions, but there were a lot of newer teachers without tenure who were actively antiunion, and there were other teachers in the middle who didn’t care one way or the other. Still, she dutifully forwarded the e-mailed information, hoping that at least some of it might sink in.
     
     
    She arrived early for the big meeting on Monday. Jody and her supporters had gone all out, because not only was the multipurpose room festively decorated, its walls hung with posters from various companies who had apparently promised to donate goods and services to the school should it become independent, but there was a long table piled high with doughnuts, drinks and various types of fruit. As each person walked through the door, he or she was presented with a packet that included articles and editorials about charter school accomplishments as well as copies of studies purporting to show that charter schools fared better academically than more traditional educational institutions. There was no way anyone would be able to read even a fraction of the provided material in the time allotted; the teachers were just supposed to be impressed and cowed into submission by the sheer bulk of it.
     
     
    “Nice to see that we’ll be able to discuss issues and vote in a balanced, fair and unbiased environment,” Diane noted drily when she arrived ten minutes later.
     
     
    Linda, who had been wandering around, mingling and eavesdropping on conversations, told her friend that from what she’d observed, the outcome was too close to call. “Although a lot of teachers seem to be skeptical, so