Teachers at BASIS Tucson North ratified a collective bargaining agreement.
The agreement makes the school near East River and North Craycroft roads the first charter school in ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ the first in ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ to have unionized staff and teachers.
The new union, AFT Local 6627, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, secured the agreement with the school’s for-profit operator, BASIS, LLC.
The contract “secures for the educators an end to unjust labor practices through enforceable terms of employment, a grievance process and guaranteed raises and benefits,†the union said in a news release.
The 55 teachers at the fifth- through 12-grade school “wanted a union to be able to advocate for students’ needs and to ensure financial transparency,†the release said.
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“This is the first contract for an ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ charter school, laying a strong foundation for rights and a voice for educators at their school and showing others at unorganized charters the way to move forward,†Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, AZ-ACT’s parent union, said in the news release.
“This contract will help educators in charters in ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ and elsewhere to see how important it is to have a union,†Weingarten said.
Last month BASIS Tucson North earned the top spot in the 2025-26 U.S. News Best High Schools Rankings.
The tuition-free public charter network BASIS Charter Schools operates in four states and has 10 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ schools in the Top 100 schools as ranked by U.S. News, last month.
, released Aug. 19, evaluated 24,000 public schools across the country and ranked nearly 18,000.
