Let me start by stating that I, myself am somewhat agnostic when it
comes to the questions around whether I believe teachers unions are
generally good or bad for the overall quality of our education system
and for educational equity. In my personal experiences as a young
teacher in the early 1990s, I had my issues with my local teachers
unions (in New York State in particular), resulting in some pretty
heated battles with local and regional union officials [and some pretty
nasty internal politics in my own school]. As a young teacher, I was
anything but a fan of the teachers union. But unlike many of my TFA pals
[I was a few years too early for TFA, but had friends & later
colleagues in the first few waves] who only stuck it out in teaching for
a year or two and may have developed similar negative feelings toward
their local union, I did outgrow that initial reaction – which in my
view- was somewhat isolated – and partly a function of my own youthful
ignorance. I didn’t stick it out in public school teaching much longer
than that [the local union actually ran me out!], but did have the
unique experience of working in an elite private school that had a
union, and I worked in that school during a contract renegotiation.
The idea for this post first came about when I read the following quote in an article in the Economist. This has to be among the most utterly stupid statements I think I’ve ever read in my life:
Read more: http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/teachers-unions-scourge-of-the-nation/
The idea for this post first came about when I read the following quote in an article in the Economist. This has to be among the most utterly stupid statements I think I’ve ever read in my life:
…no Wall Street financier has done as much damage to American social mobility as the teachers’ unions have. http://www.economist.com/node/21564556
Read more: http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/teachers-unions-scourge-of-the-nation/
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