From the Chicago teachers’ strike to the debut of a controversial
anti-teacher’s union film, education has been getting national attention
ahead of an important election.
But the biggest news might be that although teachers unions have typically been critical supporters of the Democratic Party, a growing number of Democrats
are willing to back conservative education reforms.
“You have your old guard teachers’ union members who have been longtime supporters of the Democratic Party,
and then you have a new generation of education reformers coming out of
a lot of big cities and coming up from the states that have real world
on the ground experience,” said Michael McShane, a scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute, in an interview with The Daily Caller
News Foundation.
“There is definitely a struggle within the Democratic Party, and it’s not entirely clear at this moment who is going to win.”
The unions’ vast financial
resources, as well as the ability to mobilize members for protest and
strikes, have given them a loud voice in the Democratic Party for
decades. Still, McShane said that may be changing.
“The teachers’ unions have money, lots of it, and this huge membership — they are extremely powerful,” he said. “But these younger generations appear to be really good at organizing and messaging and getting their point across, so I think the momentum is swinging in their direction.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is one Democratic politician who found out how hard it is to fight teachers’ unions.
But the biggest news might be that although teachers unions have typically been critical supporters of the Democratic Party, a growing number of Democrats
are willing to back conservative education reforms.“You have your old guard teachers’ union members who have been longtime supporters of the Democratic Party
,
and then you have a new generation of education reformers coming out of
a lot of big cities and coming up from the states that have real world
on the ground experience,” said Michael McShane, a scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute, in an interview with The Daily Caller
News Foundation.“There is definitely a struggle within the Democratic Party, and it’s not entirely clear at this moment who is going to win.”
The unions’ vast financial
resources, as well as the ability to mobilize members for protest and
strikes, have given them a loud voice in the Democratic Party for
decades. Still, McShane said that may be changing.“The teachers’ unions have money, lots of it, and this huge membership — they are extremely powerful,” he said. “But these younger generations appear to be really good at organizing and messaging and getting their point across, so I think the momentum is swinging in their direction.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
is one Democratic politician who found out how hard it is to fight teachers’ unions.
No comments:
Post a Comment