In Praise of Teachers Unions: EvolutionBlog
The simple fact is that as a society we do everything in our power to make teaching as unappealing a profession as possible. In most districts the pay and benefits are laughable compared to other professions. Even worse, there is a deep lack of respect for the work that teachers do. People who haven’t set foot in a classroom since their own, typically undistinguished, academic careers, and who wouldn’t last five minutes if they ever did enter a classroom, seem perfectly happy to give lectures on how easy teachers have it, what with their nine-month school year and workday that ends at 3:05. Teachers are the only one’s blamed for poor student performance. It is never the fault of spineless, unsupportive administrators, or lazy, shiftless students and their irresponsible, enabling parents. The only forces working against all this are the unions, and bless their hearts for doing so.
AND
In opposition to the unions we hear only that they are against “reform,” which usually refers to some combination of vouchers, eliminating tenure, some condescending and Orwellian notion of “merit pay” or making it easier to fire teachers with very little in the way of due process. Bascially [sic], “reform” is a euphemism. Depending on the context, it means either (a) Screwing teachers by reducing their salaries and benefits while expecting them to take on more responsibility outside of the classroom or (b) Screwing teachers by making it easier to punish them when their arrogant, undisciplined students underperform on standardized tests or (c) Screwing teachers by eliminating their job security and leaving them subject to the whims of irate parents and craven principals, or (d) Screwing public education generally by diverting money away from them and into the hands of private and parochial schools. God bless the unions for opposing such things.
There is no secret to running good public schools. Wealthy districts all over the country manage to do it year after year. And we have the examples of all those other countries we keep hearing about that score higher than us on various exams. Those countries don’t starve their schools for resources, treat their teachers contemptuously, or force public schools to compete with private concerns for funding. Such ideas are the exclusive province of anti-government, anti-intellectual right-wingers, and cowardly, quisling liberals who inexplicably desire the praise of the right-wingers.
Amen.
Well, as a retired teacher, all I can say is you WAY understated it, but you made your point.
Another observation: the most successful tactic of the 1% and their buddies in the upper 10% is to bust the unions. Without a union standing behind you, as an individual you are powerless, and safe labor laws only came about because of atrocities like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, where the young women were LOCKED in and couldn’t escape, and therefore died. I’m sure the owner thought he was ensuring good work from these poor girls, like not letting them go to the restroom.
I won’t go on, I think I’ve made MY point, but what totally puzzles me is what part of employer-worker mutual obligation don’t the richies understand?
natsera, these aren’t my words, I’m just quoting Jason Rodenhouse, the blogger at EvolutionBlog.
THIS.