The longtime chief of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers has been ousted by a high school social studies teacher who said union leadership was getting too cozy with management.

Robert Panning-Miller defeated 22-year union president Louise Sundin's reelection bid by garnering 56 percent of the vote. Slightly more than one-third of the 3,100-member union voted.

"We need a union that can say no," Panning-Miller said during his campaign. "Our current leadership has been walking hand in hand with the district."

Sundin and Panning-Miller attributed the upset to an erosion of Sundin's traditional base among elementary school teachers. High school faculty traditionally have taken a harder line on union issues and were believed to form the core of Panning-Miller's support. But he rejects the hardliner label.

"I want to democratize the institution," said Panning-Miller, who has been a union steward for seven years.

The outcome could stiffen the union's resistance to parental pressure to reduce the role of seniority in layoffs and transfers, and affect a referendum this month over an alternate pay system tied more to training and performance.

Panning-Miller's ability to change union policy will be limited because the union's governing board remains largely intact. He said he'll seek compromises with the board, but he also wants more member involvement in decisions.

The vote was a blow for Sundin's advocacy for professionalism among teachers. She built a national reputation for moving away from traditional industrial unionism toward contract changes designed to improve the pedagogy of union members. Those produced a more rigorous tenure process for young teachers, a protocol for substandard teachers to improve or leave and the addition of mentor teachers.

She had a knack for getting out in front of proposals such as alternative pay that would bring more money into schools and working to make those proposals more palatable to teachers.

But for the past several years, falling enrollments forced budget cuts and teacher layoffs, most heavily in the ranks of her elementary supporters. "A lot of these teachers who are teachers now have only been through the tough times, and I think that they legitimately feel frustrated and don't have a good target for that frustration," she said Friday. She said she expects to continue working in education or labor.

Panning-Miller, 38, who takes office in mid-June, has taught for 14 years in Minneapolis at South High School in topics ranging from Latin American studies to biology.

He campaigned hard for the post, planting himself on sidewalks at elementary schools after the district said he couldn't campaign on school property or use its e-mails or mailboxes. He pushed the federation hard to gain access to the union mailing list for his literature, finally succeeding as ballots were mailed. His supporters also mounted a vigorous phone campaign.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438