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Subscribe to RSSPresident Barack Obama’s re-election on Tuesday — along with Democratic victories in key states — marked a reprieve for teachers unions after a difficult year of political attacks and shrinking membership.
The defeat of Indiana’s Republican superintendent of public instruction, Tony Bennett, combined with labor-friendly results on a series of ballot initiatives, demonstrates the continuing strength of unions, said Terry Moe, a political scientist at Stanford University and the author of “Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools.”
“They’re powerful enough that they can go after their enemies,” Moe said. “That tends to prevent a lot of policymakers from doing anything.”
With a combined membership of 4.5 million educators, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers have long been considered among the best-organized political forces in the country. But this election was marked by a particular sense of urgency, many union officials have told The Hechinger Report over the past few months.
“The 2010 election kind of woke a sleeping giant, if you will, in many of our members,” said NEA political director Karen White.
In the last two years, a majority of states across the nation have passed education laws that unions disagree with, including bills that have reformed tenure and tied student test scores to teacher evaluations. Legislatures have slashed state education budgets and limited unions’ collective bargaining rights.
Bennett — a favorite among self-proclaimed “education reformers” — was defeated by NEA member Glenda Ritz, in part due to a large-scale phone-banking campaign spearheaded by the union. Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., described Bennett’s unexpected loss as the “biggest single development for education” in this election cycle.
“The fact that a basketball-coaching, folksy native son … lost in the Hoosier state was a shocker, and [is] a big setback for would-be reformers,” Hess said.
In Idaho, union members also campaigned hard to overturn three pieces of major education-reform legislation by wide margins. Laws that would have included student test scores in teacher evaluations, introduced a merit pay system and mandated online classes for high-schoolers were all rejected.
“We really believe it was an overreach from the right wing after those 2010 elections,” White said of the laws. “Voters in Idaho believe in fundamental fairness.”
A Maryland ballot initiative to make undocumented immigrants eligible for in-state tuition to public colleges and universities passed, while a bid to remove language from the Florida state constitution banning taxpayer money from going to religious educational institutions failed. Had the initiative passed, it would have opened up the possibility of a statewide system of private-school vouchers, which unions staunchly oppose.
Ohio Education Association
Teachers Donna O'Connor and Maureen Reedy ran for state House seats in Ohio. Both lost on Tuesday.
In other places, though, the unions were less successful. In Georgia, for instance, citizens voted to create a state commission to authorize charter schools, which unions have fought against because they tend to hire non-unionized teachers. Initial results indicate that Washington will become the 42nd state in the country to allow charters. And in Ohio, only one of the 10 teacher-candidates running for state legislature won, despite all having had their union’s support.
Many of the Ohio teachers were spurred to run by a 2011 attempt to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights in that state. “The Ohio Education Association is extremely proud of all of our teacher-candidates,” OEA spokesperson Michele Pater said in a statement. “Each one of them ran a highly competitive campaign, laying the groundwork for the future.”
StudentsFirst, an organization founded by former District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, also dealt blows to the unions this year. The group was active in helping to push through some ballot initiatives, like the Georgia charter school item. Of 111 candidates StudentsFirst endorsed across the country, 87 were elected.
Related stories from The Hechinger Report
- Why was Indiana reformer Tony Bennett ousted?
- Obama re-elected: What four more years means for education
- Congress likely to stay divided; will gridlock on K-12 continue?
“[Tuesday] night was a good night for school reform,” said Tim Melton, legislative director for StudentsFirst.
The group, which aims to serve as a counterweight to the political power of unions, was particularly successful in Missouri. There, 19 of 21 the candidates they endorsed won, including Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. (Six ran unopposed.) Candidates supported by StudentsFirst won six of eight contests against union-backed opponents in Missouri.
But Stanford’s Moe cautioned against viewing union losses as a sign of weakness. “Other groups are major new participants in the political process that are making unions’ lives more difficult,” he said. “That doesn’t change the fact that the unions are still enormously powerful.”
This story, "Teachers unions show renewed strength in wake of elections," was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet located at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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Modern Day UNIONS are nothing more than LEGALIZED MAFIA..... The worse UNIONS are the Public Service Unions..... They serve no function other then RIPPING off us Tax Payers.....
Due to the Obama economy I have been working as a substitute teacher (at 50). It has been eye-opening to see how uneducated, lazy and selfish the faculty of high schools are. Many teachers will simply ask their union rep “Who are we to vote for?” It is always the democrat. When I have asked them why they never have a reason other than the republican will be bad for teachers. But they never can say what the democrat has done for teachers. I never even heard them say who would be better for education just what is good for teachers.
Not sure what state you're in, but I too worked several years as a sub teacher. I saw only one teacher in all that time who I would call lazy and selfish and she was a big fan of Michele Bachmann. It's true most teachers trend Democratic, but it's not for self-interest alone. Democrats support education. Some Republicans are also one issue voters, including the teacher I mentioned. She believed in creationism and thought it should be taught in schools, even science classes. I have a daughter and son-in-law who teach in another state and their union works hard to mentor new teachers and remove ineffective ones. Every year the teachers in their district take classes to improve their effectiveness, and have monthly meetings to brainstorm ideas to help improve kids' learning.
OHGuy - How is a teacher being paid a barely livable wage ripping off taxpayers?
I am not saying democrats are better or worse for education. If the union or any group just supports one party their endorsement means nothing.
In Pennsylvania every 5 years teachers must take a certain number of classes to keep their certification. I have taken some of them we drew posters, cut out shapes, and other activities. How is that going to help me as a math and science teacher? I have yet to see anyone not get an “A” in those classes. And even so certain instructor’s classes fill quickly because they are known to be an easy grader.
The problem I see with the typical teacher is they went from High School to College to High School. It is easy to see the maturity level between the typical teacher and one who spent time working outside of the academic world.
I am not saying all teachers are lazy and self-centered but many are.
Your original comment villified all teachers. That mindset is what's causing so many problems in our country today. "Compromise", cooperation, negotiating - all are good and necessary actions when not every person thinks exactly the same. We have too many politicians who believe compromise is surrendering one's principles. In both the private sector as well as the public sector there are lazy, selfish people. It's not a characteristic of one political party or the other. We need to support, discuss, and compromise and quit attacking others who have opinions in conflict with our own. I saw teachers work together to facilitate students' learning. Teachers I know have told me of problem parents who want to know what they can do to improve their kids' grades. Seldom do parents express a desire to have their children increase their knowledge or enthusiasm for learning. That's sad.
It is not teachers who are ripping off tax payers. A few years back I did some work for a school teacher in the Irvine, CA school district who was buying supplies for her class from her own money. Incredulous I asked how it was possible in one of the wealthiest cities in the US how her budget could be so low she had to use her own money... She replied in an eye opening minute the district was awash with money, but had hired administrators in a one to one ratio with teachers. One Administrator per teacher in the district and most of the money was funneled to them and all the friends, relatives etc they could get on the gravy train.
The point is schools get more than enough money to do their job and fraud, not overpaid teachers in most cases is the culprit when it comes to budget problems.
All that said, don't get me started about the rubbish States set as curriculum...
The teachers' unions are also the reason we lag other nations in student abilities. I'd like to see the documentation that the administrators are on a one to one ration with teachers - unless GHX is including custodial, lunchroom, healthcare, and counseling personnel, etc. as administration.
And this is how Obama won, by targeting groups of people. In my opinion he didn't really have to campaign and discuss his bad record. It didn't matter to him if he performed bad or good in the debates. He just needed to concentrate on the "groups".
The biggest groups Obama first used were the news media groups and the entertainment groups. The black group was a given. The union groups were a given. Then he worked on the latino group and the single women group. The majority group of the newly 14 million people on food stamps probably voted for him. He worked on the college-aged group.
Combine all these groups and you easily have the votes needed to win.
Just yesterday ABC News confirms what I just said. They reported that Obama targeted groups. He was able to manipulate the minds of the people belonging to these groups.
Of course ABC News didn't say "manipulation" but this proves my case again. The news media will never paint Obama in a bad light.
Guess not so much here in Wisconsin as a 1 vote democrat majority in the state senate has been replaced with a 3 vote majority for the republicans, in-spite of the state voting for Obama. This is fantastic news for us in Wisconsin as governor Walkers reforms will stay in place and can now even be strengthened.
The Fish...
Unions do tell you who they want you to vote for and you are absolutely right - It is always Democrat and Republicans are bad for all workers and teachers. They do not tell you that democrats are not better, at least not since I can remember.
hardtostarboard... Being in WI really sucks, One does not appreciate what you have until it is gone! While Scottie cut the bargaining power and benefits for some of the unions, cut millions from the state's education program and gave $500 hundred million to the Kock brothers, my local school system has been cut short on a $1 million. Oh yea, let's celebrate Scottie did not have to raise taxes - He just increased the State's spending by giving the Kock Brothers our money at the State level and now we have to still pay it at the local level, nothing better than paying for it twice!
These are reasons why we need a third party majority forcing our elected officials to work more together, both the Dems and the Reps are poor choices.
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/ranks/rank20.html
http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/acs-09.pdf
Average Ohio teacher salary in 2007 was 51,937 which ranked 13th among states, while median household income was 46,597.
Average Minnesota teacher salary in 2007 was 49,718 which ranked 18th among states, while median household income was 55,802.
For the U.S. i 2007the median household income was .50,740.
Hardly a case for teacher's being paid a barely livable wage, especially when you consider their benefits.
I don't think most on this board who are bashing teachers' abilities realize the mathematics of the situation. In NJ a teacher with a college degree can never make more than about $85k. I as a tax accountant in NJ with a similar college degree (BS) makes about $85k in about 4 years. Even if you add in the benefits they get including pensions they can never make more than I've made since about 6 years in. This includes all the factors including time off and scheduling. If you want to argue that you think teachers DESERVE less because they have a less important job as a tax accountant I'd love to hear it. Otherwise pay your taxes and thank them every chance you get.
hardtostarboard - Congratulations! We lost the house here in Colorado so Dems are in control of governorship, State Senate and House. Our state is in big trouble.
the teacher's Union gives nearly 100% of it's political money to Democrats, in essence, electing the same people that they negotiate pay and benifits from. That is a clear conflict of interest! That is why cities and counties are going broke. At the same time they are "teaching" their students, liberal ideology. No wonder why Owebama fot 70% of the youth vote. This country is on the verge of a ONE party totalitarian government. When teachers expouse political ideology, the enlightened student must ask, "are you in a union?" As the teacher affirms that answer , the student should question the validity of the one sided rhetoric expoused by a "Union representative".
Just wait and see what happens when UNIONS are added into State Constitutions giving them the right to "judge" State's legislation before it passes (Michigan......VOTE IT DOWN !!!)
Yep......education folks drafting the legislation, Union folks "judging" the legislation, and then there are the Progressive Governors who will sign anything Liberal.
concerned-999
Your local school district can raise taxes to cover any shortfall, provided the voters approve of having their taxes increased. Its all about local control, the way it should be. Shoveling money at schools doesn't make better students or teachers. South Dakota's cost per pupil to educate students is a fraction of what it costs here, yet those students rank as high as any in the nation in academic aptitude. Two years into the Walker plan and the sky is not falling. In fact things are actually looking up here in-spite of Obama's re-election. The buyers remorse for the latter to be epic, mark my words.
Colorado-Man, sorry for your plight brother. I can cross Colorado off my list of states I'd consider living in, not that it was ever too high in the running to begin with, though I do love visiting there, especially in winter. Take heart, hopefully by 2014 - 2016 election cycles, people will wake up, but It may be too late by then, if not already.
hardtostarboard
http://www.620wtmj.com/blogs/charliesykes/79209157.html
Thanks a lot for sending us your rejects.
OHGuy, fine, if you ever have kids enjoy PAYING to have them sent to private school. Unions are like any other type of organized group. There are good ones and there are bad ones. In the end I would prefer a world with unions as opposed to a world without them.
When disaster strikes such as Hurricane Sandy, States should not turn away non-union electricians who want to help. Sadly, non-union electricians are being turned away and people have no electricity. People need to stand up against whoever is turning them away and say "enough".
In general government employee unions are the evil ones. Many a municipality is bankrupted by them and the good people do without even basic municipal services like road repairs and infrastructure upgrades.
Why? Because they vote Democrat?
GHX - Teachers' unions are government employee unions. But you knew that, right?
Pubic sector Unions have NO moral right to exist. They are protected by Public Servant laws and are suppose to work for the taxpayor. As the Union dues are collected, 100% goes to the democrats, when the Union membership may be 50 or 60% Democratic. Worse still is that these same Unions OWN local and State politicians to whome they give their monies. And the Unions arbitrate with those whome they put into power. A clear conflict of interest. . To make it worse, their only answer is to increase taxes, pay for more and more benifits and distroy local economies.
As a teacher may I say that is public, not pubic; taxpayer not taxpayor; Democrats not democrats; union not Union; whom not whome; benefits not benifits; and destroy not distroy. As to the money the teacher unions use for political purposes, those are voluntary contributions from our membership dues. If we don't want to pay into it we don't have to. I know many teachers who are avid Republicans and still give voluntarily to the union's political fund because it supports those who support schools and teachers. It is not taxpayer money, it is the money we earned and choose to spend in this way. I have not had any kind of pay increase in 8 years, not even cost of living. I am currently having a 4.3% pay cut due to furlough days to keep teachers from being layed off and class sizes increasing. My only benefit, other than my pension which I make a hefty contribution to, is my personal health insurance. I pay for the rest of my family and the cost increases every year. I can't collect much of the social security I earned before becoming a teacher because it is considered "double dipping" but only for teachers. I also have to pay for my own disability insurance as well, we are not covered like those paying into Social Security.
The-Fish, Republicans generally are anti union, while democrats are generally pro union. If its any consulation in my state a lot of oil workers vote for republicans simply because they believe there PRO development.
that is the response I get, no details and not that they are good for education but good for the union.
So how much good do school administrators do? How much good do politicians do? How much good does your neighbor do?
I guess its all about you.
I don't know about you but I have always voted for what I thought was best for the community as a whole. Many times that has been against my own self interest.
Fish, where do you get this belief that unions SHOULD be fighting for higher quality education? That is not their function. Question: When you worked for the company that laid you off (supposedly because of Obama) were you working for the shareholders of that company or were you working to support yourself and family? Exactly, unions don't work to better education, just like you don't work so some shareholder can make money.
Yes I was working to suport my family. But I also had pride in my work. When I was given an assignment I worked my hardest to satisfy our clients. Many nights I spent in the office to get a project done. So yes I did work for pay but that has NEVER been my motivation. In school the clients are the students they are my motivation.
The teacher's union is a prime example of people educating themselves into stupid. They put such a financial burden on school districts, that teachers in the Union are being laid off while year by year contract teachers are getting hired to fill school districts needs.
Their support of Obama not only condemns this country to financial suicide by Obama, but their Union as well..
The amount of many school districts' budgets dedicated to teachers' salaries is generally shrinking while the administrative costs are skyrocketing. Too many administrators making too many rules, too much testing and not enough learning. Ask your children who the good teachers are (they know) and you'll find a teacher who loves watching kids learn and is frustrated with how much paperwork they're required to fill out to keep administration happy. The political games in education are getting to be almost as bad as they are in large companies.
In union there is strength. That is why we all belong to a Union. The United States of America. Too bad most of us don't learn that simple lesson.
IMHO:" In union there is strength"
you could say the same thing about Street Gangs.
Too bad most have forgotten or never learned this simple lesson.
Amazing. The US has been falling behind the rest of the world in Public Education for 25 years. And the people continue to elect leaders who are bankrolled by the most incompetent educators in the WORLD! Your kids can't read at grade level because neither can their teacher!
Twenty one percent of all manufactured goods are made in the USA. our next biggest competitor is China at 15%. The United States of America has not failed. It is strong and it is totally united. Yes, we do have the right to disagree with one another. But as for saying we're fallng behind, that's just another urban myth. Those that spread that myth have alterior motives.
In Union there is strength.
States with teachers' unions have students who score higher on tests. Perhaps skimping on teachers' salaries means less competent educators - you get what you pay for, right? FYI, Finland, the country that scores highest on students' performance, recognizes teaching as a demanding profession and pays their teachers very well. In most countries that value education teachers are treated with respect. Maybe we should try that.
Send your kids to school with a respect for their teachers, eager to learn, prepared to do the work, and make them do the assigned homework and you will be amazed how much better your teachers are all of a sudden. Unbelievable how it works that way. But keep ridiculing the teachers, demand that your kid get an "A" for "C" quality work, do nothing as a parent except to bitch about how bad the teachers are. Because that always works out so well.
My husband is a science teacher in Ohio and a registered republican, but with the SB5 attack by Kashich last election, he voted straight democrat... and it wasn't due to the union telling him what to do. Fighting SB5 energized the teachers union... how would you like having your pension attacked (I'm sure you all loved having your 401K 'legitimately raped' as much as I did).
As far as the 'lazy teachers' comments, you don't live with my husband, who now is working on his 34th year of teaching. The man puts in at least 3-4 hours a night in grading, recording & reporting, planning every night. When his budget got cut for supplies for his room, he spends his own money so he can ensure that the kids are able to do at least 2 labs a week. The computer he's supposed to be able to use to take attendance, record and report grades is pathetically unusable (it doesn't even function enough to take attendance without it taking entirely too much time)... he's talked to administration and the computer personnel numerous times since the first of the year but still no resolution. For some reason he thinks they're trying to force him out by total frustration.
Teachers, of all professions requiring a degree, is one of the lowest paid but the public believes they shouldn't make much more than a McDonald's worker... while NOT expecting their children to put forth any effort. So should other people with a specialized degree make less also... you know, it's cutting into profit.
The vitriol towards teachers and unions is amazing... these are also the people who provide coaching for sports, cheer leading, and advise for drama, choir and numerous other activities your children participate in. So, can you imagine putting in even MORE time from YOUR day at your job, first in the 8 hours on the job, then numerous hours grading, planning and such... and then more hours a week to support school activities??? They get a very small stipend when you figure out the hours put in so your kids can participate in those activities.
Now how about instead of slamming teachers, commenters to this story could actually make some constructive suggestions on how to FIX the educational system if you're so displeased. To start... my suggestion is to seriously think about merging some of the smaller districts in order to cut administrative expenses.
While your at it... remind you children that taking pics of tests with their smart phones (to share with their friends) ISN'T acceptable (yes, they're not 'allowed' to have them out... try policing that in a room of 30 kids while trying to get them to learn what you're teaching them). You might also want to tell them that they're performance in school WILL affect their destiny and earning potential when they mature. IF your kids want a decent quality of life when they become adults they have to WORK towards that goal NOW!!!
One more thing, you need to realize that most teachers have to also work with kids on specialized learning plans (whether learning disabled or NOT); all lessons have to be modified specifically for each and every child on an IEP or other specialized plan. Kids with developmental and learning disabilities (dyslexia, autism, very low IQs, etc) have been 'mainstreamed' into the typical class room (including academically challenging subjects); is this really in any of the kids best interest?
Stop making UNEDUCATED comments and use this forum for actual problem solving suggestions.
I agree mainstreaming special ed kids is generally a bad idea. The kids do much better in specialized placements with trained teachers able to deal with their problems. That said we could easily get rid of about two thirds of the administrative layers in most districts and the sun would rise and the kids would go to school and learn and teachers would continue to do the job we pay them to do, just a whole lot more economically!
Here is my educated opinion - if you want to fix education you have to first fix families. Next, you have to fix the education of teachers so that they know how to do their job. Then you have to get rid of the unions because unions are only interested in dues and in striking and in disrupting otherwise normal everyday activities. Then you have to get said teachers to understand that everyone in this economy is hurting and that by promising teachers money that other people can't have is ludicrous and ridiculous. Next you have to teach teachers that Money Does Not Grow on Trees and that if teachers want to have more money then they will have to tax people more and since you can't milk a dead cow, then teachers can't expect to make more money. Then you have to teach teachers that they don't deserve more benefits or money than anyone else. My husband's pension is probably going to be gone before he retires because his company that he works for will probably fold - why? Because of Democratic behavior that has caused his company to be unprofitable. We have no IRA monies of any substance left - because of Democratic behavior - such as allowing Fannie and Freddie to act irresponsibly and because of deliberately misleading the people to believe that all banks ( NOT JUST INVESTMENT BANKS) are bad. Banks go under, loans don't get made, America grinds to a halt. Then you have to make sure that the liberal establishment that runs most local school systems actually purchase books that have accurate information in them. Or that you teach the children how to properly do math problems, or that you teach them to write correctly, or read correctly, or spell correctly. That would be nice. Yes, there are good teachers out there and I'm sure your husband is one of them. But, the Republicans don't hate teachers - and I'm not a Republican. I don't like unions. I've seen what they have done to my children's educations and I have seen what they have done to the schools and I don't like it. So, it's not about teachers, it's about greedy people who think that money grows on trees and that they should have more of it even if it means the guy down the street doesn't get any at all. So, you want others to share the pain? Everyone is. And if you hate the rich guys, remember that the richest members of Congress are Democrats. And maybe, just maybe, if teachers were taught properly in their institutions of higher education rather than that liberal blather that spews forth from the university campuses in this country, just maybe our children would be the best educated people in the world. And since you can't fix families, they have to fix themselves, stop believing you deserve more than others, and work to bring civility to this country. We are all tired and worn out and weary of this boring conversation about how Republicans are so terrible. When this country is bankrupt, it won't be Bush's fault anymore, it will fall squarely on the heads of EVERYONE, including greedy people who think that money grows on trees.
GHX and Glimmmerr, I agree 100% that mainstreaming kids is a bad idea. When I was in school, the more advanced kids were taught in one group and the "slower" kids were in another group. Also the kids were put into the advanced classes or "slower" classes based on how they did in certain subjects. For example a child might be in the advanced math group but in the "slow" reading group. By grouping all the kids into the same classes bores the advanced kids and discourages the "slow" kids
Also many of the dollars going into education are going to administration costs. Another example is in our school district we used to have one superintendent and a principal for the grade school and a principal for the high school. Now we still have the superintendent, a principal for the grade school, middle school, and high school. Also we now have a vice-principal for all three. So we now have seven admistrators instead of the three we use to have
and the pay offs begin...............
BEFORE COMMENTING - LET'S MAKE EVERYONE READ glimmerr's excellent comment. Open your mind before you open your mouth.
Thank you, MNPat!
Another comment I'd like to make is that my husband's district is a much less affluent district... and so many parents think that sports will get their kid a sports scholarship (very rare!!!) but fail to encourage kids to try to get an academic scholarship. How many of these people could afford to add money to a voucher to put their kids in a 'so called better school'?
In addition, kids are allowed to hand in late work (with unlimited time), so the teacher has to constantly backtrack to grade and add late grades back in. Now someone tell me, how is administration allowing unlimited time for an assignment preparing them for the work world... employers will never make those kinds of concessions for workers! Administration just doesn't want to hear parents complain when their child fails to perform.
Just so you know, my husband grades for each and every school day... not required but he believes it's necessary for the learning process and accountability by the students.
And so glimmmerr, you prove that it isn't Republicans that are the problem, it is the administration that is the problem. Yet your husband voted Democrat because the Republicans were the problem? You live in a less than affluent neighborhood, the kids are given unlimited amount of time to turn in an assignment, and if parents complain they just give in to the parents? Those are Democratic policies. Give everyone what they want regardless of the consequences. And your husband voted Democrat. There is no logic to your conversation. I'm sorry, but the problem resides squarely in the laps of uneducated school bureaucrats who believe that you don't need to be responsible for your actions. Totally Democratic principles.
Yes, it is largely the Republican parents who are the problem. They are more likely to villify teachers, demand proof that students are learning (resulting in time wasted teaching to the test), attack teachers when their kids aren't doing well, and complain to the administrators if their kids get poor grades (because it's clearly a bad teacher.) FYI, most teachers are at odds with the "uneducated" school bureaucrats and the increasingly lax standardsin the schools. I can guarantee no teacher who's a member of the Democratic Party supported changing Civics and Government from required classes to electives.
Unions are the demise of our education system. They have hijacked the system. We need to change to a merit pay system and flush out the lazy teachers who are there for a paycheck only.
Yeah, switch to merit pay and watch how many selfish teachers will no longer share ideas for better methods and will engage in cheating to improve their students' test scores. Teaching requires that teachers share ideas and support one another; not engage in competition. You wouldn't flush out lazy teachers; you'd increase bad behavior as some of the worst teachers would engage in unethical behavior in order to rake in a few merit bucks at their students' expense.
Every employee in every job has some type of performance evaluation - teachers need the same thing. If you don't do your job and you are told repeatedly that your performance must improve and it doesn't, then you should be fired. And, unions have no relevance in today's world. Any teacher should know, if they learned their history, that there are now laws on the books to protect workers. But, the unions don't want you to know that.
In theory the merit system sounds great. But it is very hard if not imposable to do. As a long-term sub at a small lower income charter school students came from New York City. Most of their parents still worked there only coming home to North East PA on the weekends. I taught a geometry class. 3 of the students were very good and were actually doing some calculus. But I also had about about 10 more couldn't even add. They had just been pushed through the system. I worked with each of them at their own level. The students who couldn't add learned to add and subtract some even learned more. But in a merit system would I have been a good teacher for teaching them so much or a bad teacher because they couldn't pass geometry?
were on pace and class of However the senior teachers will talk the higher level clsses and yes thier classes will perform better. The jinior teacher As a longterm sub I hae taught ina school
MNPat, please just listen to what happens when one very dedicated teacher works relentlessly to come up with ideas to excite her students. My step daughter is a very energetic young teacher who in addition to teaching, is also putting in time coaching cheering. This young lady is exceptionally popular with her students (her district is in a very affluent area) due to her dedication to providing the very best educational experience that she can. This girl is constantly developing a TON of learning activities, which takes much of her so called 'personal time', so some of her coworkers saw (and loved) what she was doing and requested that she share... and they then tried to take credit for HER ideas. Needless to say she was very upset when this happened and is now leery of sharing those ideas with her peers who don't really want to share their ideas in return.
I have no idea how merit pay could work to be fair to the hardworking teachers... and who's to judge which teachers get rewarded in a system run on nepotism and school politics? Many elected to school boards are only there to promote sports programs, which really don't serve the majority of students. Whoever is deciding merit should be someone from OUTSIDE the district, with NO ties TO the district.
As a small aside, hubby had his eval the other day and the only comment on the exit interview after the eval was "MARVELOUS job!!!'. :) He also is responsible for the science portion of the Ohio statewide testing for his district... science scores in his district have been going up consistently. So now how about the critics tell us what YOUR job is so we can slam you for fun.
My daughter was in a similar situation for her first year teaching high school English. She's now in her fifth year and is in a group of teachers who coordinate their lesson plans and ideas. Of course there're a few who don't agree but her majority developed slowly over a few years. Good teachers will eventually be appreciated. My daughter's extra work is as prom advisor. Her husband is an elementary teacher, in a very similar situation, though my daughter claims because he's young, male, and personable, he has a much easier time influencing others. Neither wants individual teacher merit pay. Here in MN we have a merit system that pays by schools, which seems to work nicely. All the teachers in the school work hard to improve students learning.
My wife is a teacher in Michigan, she is union. I, however, have been largely against unions since I can remember. It can be a bit awkward discussing politics of orgainzed labor in my household to say the least. I will say this. Teachers in Michigan have taken some hard hits to their compensation mostly through the scaleback of benefits which now require teacher contribution. It is a difficult pill to swallow for a profession that has known nothing but raises and perks throughout its existence. Despite the hit to compensation, I still believe teachers are very well compensated, and probably overcompensated. Recall that the school year in Michigan is only 180 days and most days require less than an 8 hour work day. My wife earns well over $50 per hour in just salary add in the cost of pensions and benefits and that number balloons. I submit that teacher compensation is well beyond the vast majoriety of parent income or even household income which send thier kids for a public education.
I believe unions are inherently flawed in that members involved in wrongdoing which would easily get a non-union employee canned several time over, manage to retain their positions, even after several offenses. There is no real incentive for efficiency or excellence in what amounts to a guaranteed job for life. I prefer to buy into products and institutions where people have an incentive to do a good job.
One of the things that I do side with the union on is merit pay or school funding based on student achievement and test scores. This, unfortunately, is largely out of the control of the educator. Schools in poorer districts will always underperform. A large part of student sucess is based on parent involvement, socioeconomic conditions, two parent households, college educated parents, income, etc. By penalizing teachers in poor communities, it essentially creates a circle of underperformance. The best teachers go to the best schools for better pay.
It is not a perfect system by any means, but one thing teachers excell at is going beyond a standard and giving appropriate attention to students based on their ability and academic skills. As much as education reformers may try, you simply cannot base everything on a standard that doesnt exist in the real world.
"Teachers unions show renewed strength in wake of elections"
Yes this will be great more over paid, unaccountable teachers. Need to keep the students dumb otherwise they might not vote for democrats.
Americans with higher educational backgrounds vote for Democrats. A study of papers written by Republicans as opposed to Democrats in the US Congress showed that, on average, Republicans wrote on a tenth grade level and Democrats wrote on a twelth grade level.
Everybody knows that unions are the protectors of abusive teachers. When someone comes in to clean out the education system and kick out bad teachers, these unions become aggressive and would fight back to keep the bad system and teachers from being removed. This has happened before...actually, it is happening everyday all around United States.
The result of this is our children are put on harms way. Union make teachers the winners and make children the losers.
How about abusive parents. How about an excellent young teacher I knew who would not cave in to the parent who called and e-mailed every other day to find out why her daughter was not getting "A's" in the class. Maybe it was be cause she cut class, or did not do her homework, or was late with assignments, and did poorly on her tests. The parent was so upset that she bypassed the teacher and went directly to the district superintendent every day. At the end of the year, despite superior evaluations from her department chairman and principal, the superintendent fired the teacher simply because he didn't want to listen to that parent anymore. And you wonder why fewer and fewer quality individuals are entering the teaching profession. Who in the right mind would put up with that crap.
Whenever I sub for a class I try to do the assignment first so I can help the students. Last year I covered an 8th grade math class and none of my answers agreed with the teacher's answer sheet. I thought I must be doing something wrong. So I asked another teacher for help. She agreed that my answers were correct the teacher was teaching the students wrong. I later was told by high school math teachers that students that had that teacher the year before do not do well in 9th grade. At the end of last year the district tried to fire the teacher but the union stopped them because they didn't file some paperwork in September. This year they did file the paperwork but that means another year tha 1/3 of the 8th graders in that district will not learn 8th grade math.
Unions do not protect abusive teachers; if a teacher's performance is bad, they have a union-proscribed set of actions that must be taken to first try to improve their performance, and if that fails, they are dismissed. Unions do protect good teachers from being fired without cause. When a school district finds itself on a tight budget, they could decide to lay off excellent teachers who have a higher salary to save money. After a decade or two of that behavior how many good teachers do you think that district would attract? And don't think it wouldn't happen; budget cuts are a regular threat to our schools.
how about budget-cutting the leaders of the union?? bet they make mucho salary compared to teachers.. but keep paying them your dues., blindly ...
MNPat,
So it is ok with you if incompetent teachers continue to not teach the the students what they are required to teach. All the rules as far as telling the incompetent teacher were followed. The principal forgot to FILE just ONE document.
I am sure 100-150 student's parents do not gree with you.
Maybe it is because I came from a non-union Office where I knew if my programng wasn't up to standards I would be let go. When the business lost a major contract I along with 2/3 of the company were let go (it wasn't performance related). That is why I'm teaching now. (no class right now)
Where have I either stated or implied that it's okay for incompetent teachers to stay in their jobs? My condolences on your job loss; I agree the incompetent teacher you cite should be out of a job. Note that the principal (non-union employee) was responsible for the error that allowed an extra year of bad teaching to continue. I'm guessing that some of the other teachers in this one's department are looking forward to his/her dismissal.
I teach fifth grade, I and my fellow teachers do NOT want incompetent teachers to continue working, and my union does not want to to "protect them". These teachers make everyones' job more difficult. There are steps and agreements in place to insure that teachers can't be arbitrarily fired by incompetent or biased administrators. If an incompetent or lazy administrator fails to document the case against a bad teacher, then it is the administrator's fault not the union's. Why isn't the administrator fired? And, they don't have a union!
The principal made one mistake but otherwise has done a great job, you think she should be fired. The teacher has been bad for years but can stay, hurting more students, because the Principal's error. That dosen't make any sense. The other teacher don't want him and the union has told him that they will not defend him anymore. They have been defending a known bad teacher.
I am self employed and have never nor will I ever be a member of a union. However, I believe it is a citizen's right to collective bargaining if they choose to. I have read of union excesses but I have also read of management excesses which caused unions. I don't believe unions are created to solve problems. They are there to protect members. Management always blames them for their deficiencies. It is like the auto companies blaming the union because they design and manufacture cars no one wants. Some things are just the way they are. Republicans do not like and do not approve of organized labor (for whatever reason) so why would a member of organized labor ever vote for a republican? The same thing is true of plaintiff trial lawyers. Some things just cost votes.
Well, the Republicans sent their hateful and anti-union, anti-women message and teachers heard it loud and clear! Good!! Everyone in the know understands that the problem with the schools isn't the teachers, who are educated, responsible and have their degrees, but the kids!! The kids and their do-nothing, spoiling parents who provide everything electronic but never any discipline or direction and then expect the teachers to fix their kids! Abortion should be retroactive!!
Unions were once needed in this country to protect workers. Now we have numerous laws in our country protecting workers rights and we no longer need unions.
Unions own California and the Democratic party. They are now like Mafia thugs, shaking down their members for their own political power. The California Teachers Association spent $20 million fighting Proposition 32, which would have stopped the political contributions from unions. Can you imagine what $20 million would have done for retired teachers and their benefits? Same thing with the firefighters union and the retail clerks union.
Unions in CA spend their members money on leftist liberal causes and candidates, regardless of the individual worker's personal ideals and beliefs. This is wrong. It is an abuse of power. The unions buy off their people promising them ridiculous benefit promises that the average person could never afford. We have higher prices in CA for groceries thanks to the retail clerks union.
Yes there are way too many administrators in the California school system. But the union also protects unqualified teachers, and that is wrong. They control what goes into textbooks, and in California, all textbooks from Kindergarten to 12th grade have to extol the virtues of homosexuality. And parents with traditional family values cannot have their kids opt out - they are forced to accept something that goes against their religion, ideals and values and that is not only wrong, it is unethical and immoral.
Unions are destroying California. We have a multi billion dollar deficit that will send us over that fiscal cliff, and unions are partially to blame.
This election cycle corporate executives spent $390 million to Karl Rove's PACS for negative ads, and got defeated across the board. I'm betting Rove made more than the $20 million your teachers association spent, but I can't call it an abuse of power. I will call it a dreadful return on investment for those billionaires, who one would think would know better about where to invest their cash.
but the sats show obama had more negative ads then the republicans, even tho he talked against just that same thing in 2008..
Not sure if the "sats" (stats) show Obama ran more negative ads, but even if he did it still doesn't negate my point.
and our education system is pretty much the laughing stock of the developed world.
wonder if there are anymore civic teachers, and if there are, do they really teach civics, or do they teach the liberal bias....
thor119345,
It's that type of thinking that's caused our schools to cut subjects and lower academic standards.
It's human nature to want to do the minimum for the maximum pay. Why should teachers be any different. When I was in school, I can remember only 2 teachers that were any good at connecting with the kids, and actually teaching the lessons... The ones that really wanted to teach.
Several teachers that I talked to, admitted to just wanting a job where they had the summers off. I know a principal for one school as well, and she banned christmas and halloween "icons", cut out the national anthem, etc...
I believe that's why schools had the boom in labelling kids with ADD, and Hyperactivity... And starting special programs for them. The system needs to change.... It was part of Romney's platform, but, looks like it will be another 4 years.
This last election a majority of people were voting for their pay.
If the majority of people were voting for their pay, they were just following the thinking of that great Republican Icon Ronald Reagan who admonished us to think "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" I prefer the words of the late Senator Paul Wellstone - "We all do better when we all do better."
People need to understand that the teachers unions have no responsibility to improve education. Just like workers have no direct responsibility to improve the stock price of the company they work for, that responsibility resides with leadership. So quit expecting unions to be slaves to politically correct populist attitudes.
There are good and bad teachers and few (if any) give you tenor after 3 years to where it is almost impossible to fire you. Nor do you retire from most jobs and immediately be able to draw retirement benefits. I have a friend who taught school 25 years...retired at age 49 and immediately began to draw her retirement............she agrees as do I that she may retire at 49 but should have had to wait till she began drawing SS at 22 to get her teaching retirement.
As with any government run agency/department..................it is the misuse of money that causes those organizations problems and the inflated pricing those organizations pay thanks to awards of bids...............
I have family and friends that are teachers and a few I know on the administrative end. They are told who to vote for............normally a democrat.................but that does not mean they have to do as they are told (and they know that too.............their vote is through secret ballot).
Public employees should not be allowed to run for or hold elected office. And if they are they should have to take an unpaid leave of absence while they ar away from their job.
I attended Cleveland public schools from grade one to grade 10, and then, we moved to Annandale Va. where I graduated high-school. My education spanned the 50's. The public schools I attended were wonderful. In Cleveland, the schools provided music lessons for free. Every year we were taken to Severance Hall to hear the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. That's what made me love classical music. I was always well behaved in school. But if your parents got a note from your teacher because you misbehaved, you were in big trouble. There was no such thing as blaming the teacher. Now parents stomp to school to argue with the teacher over their kids bad behavior. What kind of message does that kid learn? When I was in high school, you had to be where you were supposed to be, when you were supposed to be there. I don't like the kids being able to leave school any time they want. There's no discipline. These kids should not have any electronic devises. They must leave them at home or the school will confiscate them. They can't learn anything when they're texting in class, like they can't pay attention to their driving while texting. Text driving is just as bad as drunk driving.
So many excellent points in your comment. Today if a teacher sends home a note (or e-mail) to a parent, the parent and child attack the teacher for "picking on" the student. Kids don't respect teachers like they used to; frequently a student believes that he's from a wealthier household than the teacher, his parents (and himself, by extension) are superior to the teacher because they make a higher salary. Parents support their kids' participation in sports by attending every game, even coaching, but can't waste the time to go to the teachers' conferences. We, as a country, need to create excitement in learning in our kids.
I find as the years go by my students are less and less curious and able to think outside of the box. I lay the blame solely on NCLB. Students have been "trained" to memorize and regurgitate set information. While a certain base set of knowledge it a necessity, it should not be at the expense of creativity and thirst for knowledge. Gates, Jobs and most entrepreneurs innovations might never have been if they had been taught with the constraints of NCLB. It kills dreamers and innovators.
These are the same teachers that are teaching our kids 'Social Engineering', instead of Math & Science. Why are our taxpayer dollars being used to fund 'Government' Unions that contribute to partisan political parties? No wonder America is WAY behind many countries in Education...but the lib-wipes justify teachers using our tax dollars to influence elections that result in a payoff back to them...and our education system suffers..or more specifically continues to fall way behind many countries that actually want a better standard of living for their citizens...NoBama's Education Czar is a supporter of NAMBLA...National Organization for Man-Boy Love Acceptance...and most Lib-wipes are PROUD of it!
Teachers support the unions through their dues which are paid out of their paychecks, there is no "taxpayer money" going to the unions. It is OUR money that we EARNED in our jobs.