Janna Garrison
Education Alumna Devoted to the Cause of Teachers and Students
 

If there is one thing that drives Janna Garrison (BA 78), it is the noble cause of teachers and the students whom they are committed to educating.

To those who know her, it comes as no surprise that Garrison, president of the 12,500-member Detroit Federation of Teachers and proud alumna of the College of Education, has crafted a professional life devoted to teachers and teaching.

“I come from a family of educators,” Garrison said. “My father was a high school math teacher, principal and then superintendent of the River Rouge School District near Detroit. My mother was also a teacher in the Inkster School District and held various administrative positions. My aunts and uncles were also teachers.
“They were part of the first generation of African Americans to get a college education and there weren’t many opportunities when they graduated in 1950s. The exception was teaching. So I grew up in an environment and in a home that placed a value on education. I was taught very early on that I had a responsibility to give back to the community and to work on behalf of children.”

That work began in earnest at MSU, where she received her elementary education degree in 1978. That fall, she began teaching at an elementary school mathematics lab in the Detroit Public Schools. She would teach for nine years before leaving the classroom for an administrative position at the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
She moved up through the ranks during the 1990s and in 2000 was elected president of the state’s biggest teachers union local and the eighth largest in the nation.

Known as a tough negotiator and relentless advocate, Garrison turned some heads in 2002 when she hammered out a new contract with the school district in less than six months of negotiations. The membership overwhelmingly ratified the contract, which included a 4 percent pay raise for teachers at the top of the scale and a 3 percent raise for educators with less experience, as well as smaller class sizes in all of the district’s k–3 classrooms.
Garrison has also emerged as an outspoken advocate of urban education, working with the district on keeping outstanding teachers from leaving the school system and leading the charge against charter schools, which she says siphon money away from a district that desperately needs it.

In late 2002, Garrison was re-elected for a second two-year term with more than 70 percent of the vote. Already, Garrison is looking to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for urban education. Although society and schools have changed substantially in the last 25 years, what has not is her belief that what is good for teachers is good for students and her commitment to serve both to the best of her abilities.

“I loved being in the classroom and miss teaching everyday,” she says. “But the reward of this job is helping the 12,500 members that I represent be able to provide the best education to the 160,000 students we have in Detroit. So when we are able to do things like reduce class size, there is no greater reward because that will impact so many students. When we are able to provide our teachers with a comparable salary, then our students get high quality teachers because we can keep them in the classroom.

“The rewards come from helping teachers help students.”
 

Back to Contents