Teachers at a Chicago charter school say administrators refuse to recognize their union, even after a state board certified it for collective bargaining.

Last month, a majority of teachers at three campuses of Chicago International Charter School filed a petition with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.

The board ruled that the union, the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, or A.C.T.S., is the exclusive bargaining unit for all full- and part-time teachers, counselors and social workers at the campuses.

Despite the certification, organizers say lawyers for the school continue to stall negotiations by turning to the National Labor Relations Board for jurisdiction.

At question is whether the union will be governed by rules concerning public employers in the state, through the IELRB, or the private sector, via the NLRB.

Union representatives say administrators would have more leeway to delay negotiations through the national board, governing private employers.

"This is clearly their attempt to circumvent the laws of Illinois. They need to disabuse themselves of that notion," says Chicago A.C.T.S. spokeswoman Gail Purkey. "Charter school teachers are public school teachers paid with public school tax dollars. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board is the proper authority to grant recognition."

Simon Hess, chief executive officer of Civitas Schools, which operates the three campuses, says administrators have a legitimiate difference of opinion with the teachers.

"The last thing that we want to do is slow this process down," Hess says. "We absolutely support the right of the teachers to form a collective bargaining unit."

Rather than hurt negotiations, Hess says, NLRB rules would allow the teachers to vote using secret ballots.

Hess says that although the schools use public funds, its curriculum and personnel decisions are not governed by public agencies.

"Those are the hallmarks of a private organization," Hess says.

According a Chicago Public Schools Web site, charter schools "are independently operated public schools that are not subject to the same state laws, district initiatives, and board policies as traditional public schools." Charter school teachers may unionize, but they may not join the Chicago Teachers Union, which represents about 32,000 members from the district.

The rules regarding charter schools have led to at least one other dispute in the state regarding union jurisdiction.

David Welker, assistant director of strategic campaigns at the American Federation of Teachers, cites an ongoing case in which suburban Illinois charter school administrators have appealed the IELRB's decision to certify a union for charter school teachers.

What happens in the Chicago International and Civitas case could weigh on similar cases like that one, Welker says, and charter school administrators would prefer an outcome that favors the private-sector definition.

"This is a first case in the Chicago schools," Welker says. "They don't want the establishment of a precedent."

CPS officials have not taken a position on the issue. District spokeswoman Monique Bond says they are waiting on a legal opinion regarding jurisdiction and the district's role, if any.

Union organizers say the district should not stay on the sidelines. The union plans to send Ron Huberman, chief executive officer at CPS, a letter with signatures from area leaders.

"Chicago Public Schools cannot remain quiet or neutral on this important issue concerning the fundamental legal rights of CICS/Civitas and other public charter school employees to have a voice at work through unionization," according to a draft of the letter. "The public nature of charter schools must be affirmed for all to hear."