Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members struck down a complaint that pitted its two teacher unions against one another and held up expected negotiations over salaries and benefits for educators.

The grievance, filed by the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, also displayed tensions among some board members and Keith Williams, who has served as the executive director of MSCEA throughout his term as a school board member.

One school board member, Michelle McKissack, accused Williams of “double dipping” by simultaneously serving on the board and with the union, even as MSCEA argued the other teacher union received preferential treatment.

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The grievance sparked some turmoil within the MSCEA union itself. Anntriniece Napper, the organization’s elected president, told The Daily Memphian she disagreed with its pursuit of the complaint.

“I just always, as the president, want to do what’s best for my members, do what’s best for everybody. We have to be … positive,” Napper said.

Napper said Williams’ wife, Gloria Williams, spearheaded the complaint and that Napper disagreed with escalating it.

MSCEA’s complaint alleged the school board interfered with early steps in the teacher-bargaining process. But board members found that MSCEA did not have the evidence to support those claims. With that vote, contract negotiations with Memphis educators are expected to move forward about two months behind schedule.

“I don’t think any of us have anything in the exhibits that demonstrates that the board interfered,” board member Natalie McKinney said during the Tuesday, Feb. 25, public hearing about the claims.

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Napper said the grievance first surfaced in November.

MSCEA alleged that the name and contact information for the president of the United Education Association of Shelby County, the competing teachers union, appeared as part of a login page on electronic ballots sent to educators last fall.

Those ballots polled school district educators about their interest in entering contract negotiations and asked which teachers union they’d like to represent them. The responses dictate the makeup of the bargaining committee, where union representatives negotiate with school district officials on a handful of labor policies and practices, including salaries.

Darrell O’Neal, the attorney for MSCEA, said during the public hearing that the union questioned how UEA President Elizabeth Marable’s name appeared on the ballot’s webpage.

“What we’re asking the board do is … to do a do-over,” O’Neal told board members.

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In a declaration provided to board members, UEA President Elizabeth Marable said she didn’t know why her name or contact information would have been included on the webpage.

“Neither I nor anyone else associated with the UEA requested that my name and the UEA office phone number be included on the login form for any purpose,” Marable said in the declaration.

Napper told The Daily Memphian she thought the issue had been settled in November. Gloria Williams, Keith Williams’ wife and a longtime fixture in MSCEA, brought the complaint, according to Napper and an email from MSCS board Chair Joyce Dorse Coleman.

In that email, sent Nov. 26, Dorse Coleman wrote that Gloria Williams “asked that the ballot results be invalidated and the ballot be reissued” to teachers.

The district had looked into the claims and “found no evidence” that Marable or the UEA union “intentionally manipulated the ballot in any way,” Dorse Coleman wrote. Rather, the vendor who operated the ballot said the appearance of Marable’s name was “an oversight,” Dorse Coleman wrote, and Marable hadn’t requested her name be placed on the login screen. 

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When the grievance came to the board for a hearing on Tuesday, Keith Williams didn’t participate in the vote. He did not explain why he abstained or respond to criticism from fellow board members that he has conflicting interests as MSCEA’s executive director. Shortly after winning election in August 2022, the Tennessee attorney general issued an opinion that conflicts of interest would be likely while holding both roles. 

In comments to The Daily Memphian on Wednesday, Feb. 26, Williams said he plans to step down as MSCEA executive director at the end of July.

“It’s just time,” Williams said. He has recommended the MSCEA board choose Dolores Rivers, an MSCEA union representative, to replace him.

The call ended before a reporter could request additional comments about alleged conflicts of interest. Efforts to reach Williams again were not successful.

While Williams once had intentions of stepping down from the role, he doubled down on staying in the MSCEA post after the attorney general weighed in on potential conflicts of interest.

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At UEA, an affiliate of the Tennessee Education Association and the National Education Association, Marable said she’s glad the grievance has been settled.

”We’re glad to get to the table. We should have been there in January,” Marable told The Daily Memphian. She pointed out that budget season is quickly approaching, squeezing the time available for negotiations.

Tennessee’s bargaining law with educators does not require that teachers and the district come to agreed terms, only that the two groups meet.

Marable said the organization wants to negotiate salaries, benefits, insurance and working conditions in order to improve teacher recruitment and retention. Stubborn shortages have left MSCS turning to remote teacher alternatives in recent years.

UEA initiated this year’s contract negotiations by collecting signatures in the fall. Results from the ballots showed that the organization would receive more representatives on the bargaining committee than MSCEA, tilting the efforts in favor of UEA’s agenda.

In the previous collaborative conferencing efforts, MSCEA had the majority of bargaining committee members.