Why Teachers Like Me Support Unions
By Chris Janotta March 22, 2011 11:21 am
So I was recently asked the question, “Why do teachers like you, a supposedly ‘good’ teacher, support unions?”
I needed no time to think as I quickly replied, “Two words: Bill and Gates.” I could have easily answered that same question with two other words, Michelle and Rhee. Or Jeb and Bush. Or Scott and Walker. I could go on, but you get the idea.
All of these people I’ve mentioned–and many, many more–have the money, the power, the clout, or the connections to make themselves and their ideas heard. Furthermore, most of them are able to get people to believe in and act upon those ideas. Not because they are good ideas, but they have presented the illusion, over and over and over again–that they are good ideas. They have framed their words in a friendly tone that “puts children first,” and “rewards great teachers.” They have had their ideas published in the most prominent newspapers and magazines. They have spread their word through various television and radio shows. Some have even communicated their ideas directly to the president or his staff. I, unfortunately, cannot do any of these.
I often blog about my ideas, but the percentage of people exposed to my blogs is minuscule in comparison to those whose voices are being heard most loudly right now. I believe my ideas are good ideas, but I don’t have the think-tanks available to me that the others do to help me come up with phrases like “No Child Left Behind” or “Race to the Top.” I mean who could argue with either of those? One would have to be a hater of children not to admit that the former sounds like a great concept, and the latter sounds like the greatest educational game one will ever play. The best I’ve ever come up with is “Respectful reform that makes sense,” and that doesn’t have nearly as much of a ring to it.
I recently had a reporter from Omaha contact me about a newspaper article she was writing, but that’s about as close as I’ve gotten to having my ideas published. I’ve also written letters to the president and members of his staff, but I’m sure most have fallen into a bin somewhere between the “Letters to the Easter Bunny” bin and the “Letters to Santa Claus” bin at the post office. No, even if I try to fool myself into thinking my ideas will have as much prominence as someone like Gates or Bush, they never will, simply because of who I am. That’s where the union comes in.
What if I was to tell you there is a group of people numbering in the millions that hold the very same ideals as you do? What if that group was led by people who were elected to those leadership roles by people just like you? And what if I told you this group will collectively stand up for you and make your voice heard because it knows you cannot do it yourself? You’d probably laugh at me and say, “A group that speaks up on the behalf of teachers? Here, in America, in this day and age when teachers are amongst the least respected group of people in the country? Yeah, right!” But it’s true; there is such a group, and it is called the teachers’ union.
Now that last paragraph may make it seem like the teachers’ union is some sort of fairy tale group that magically fixes everything regarding public education and that it is absolutely perfect in everything that it does, but that obviously isn’t the case. However, the teachers’ union definitely performs a multitude of tasks every day that do indeed strengthen the public education system. It voices our collective ideas loudly and clearly to those that we as individuals would otherwise never get to hear us. And when the union isn’t operating as it should, in your point of view, you and the other members within the union have the power to collectively change its course through a democratic system. Not bad for a non-magical group.
“But wait–you just said the union speaks up on the behalf of teachers, but then went on to say it strengthens the public education system. You mean strengthens it for teachers, right? Not for the students, who should be the main focus.” Well, while the union does speak up for teachers, it does so because teachers–who see their students day in and day out–typically know what is best for students. At least they know more so than do many of the people proposing reforms right now who have never spent even one single day in the class room. Think about it: what type of morals must teachers collectively have if they only want what is best for themselves and could care less about whether or not their students are learning? Do you really believe that the majority of teachers entered into the profession not caring about children and only want a nice, cushy job with great pay and benefits? If so, we might need to go back to that last paragraph and start discussing fairy tales again, or maybe even conspiracy theories. The majority of teachers go into the profession knowing it will not be a cushy job with great pay or great benefits, but they know they will have the opportunity to do something on a daily basis that some people never get to do in an entire lifetime: make a difference in the life of a child.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah; I’ve heard all that phony baloney feel-good nonsense before, but I’m still not understanding what makes the union necessary. I mean if all these teachers are supposedly ‘good’ teachers who work their butts off every day and do everything they can to help the kids learn, then they don’t need some overpaid union thug to help them out. If they are doing their jobs, they have nothing to worry about.” Unfortunately, this is far from true. Time and time again I have seen good teachers treated like dirt due to pettiness, personality conflicts, or not “going with the flow.”
If a teacher does something that causes administration to get involved, it is often not looked upon lightly. It doesn’t matter if administration had to get involved simply because a spiteful parent didn’t like his or her child’s grade or only because the teacher taught something in a way that used out-of-the-box techniques when the administrator likes things done “the old-fashioned way;” once a teacher is on administration’s bad side–faultless or not–he or she must always watch his or her back. And when the teacher continues to teach in a way that grabs the students’ attention instead of keeps them sitting still at their desks and that administrator yanks them into the office for it, it is the union–and only the union–that has that teacher’s back.
When people outside the teaching profession speak of “good” teachers, they typically mean teachers who help their students achieve high scores on a standardized test given once a year. In fact, many of the reforms being proposed are based almost entirely upon this principle. However, “good” teachers–and their union–know there is more to a child’s learning than getting that child to pass a standardized test. They realize that curricula are sometimes outdated because the time or money was never spent to rewrite them, so they teach on-the-go, using the fourteen-year old textbook but also bringing present day examples into the class room. You see, “good” teachers often don’t lecture from the front of the class room or teach straight from the book, and all it takes is one administrator, superintendent, or school board member to not like the way that “good” teacher is doing things, and the teacher involved has nowhere else to turn but to his or her union.
Even if those “good” teachers never do get called in to be reprimanded, threatened with termination, or otherwise chastised, they know they can teach without fear because their union will protect them from illegitimate disciplinary action. Because if a teacher has to teach while being fearful of punishment, he or she needs to hold back, and this is the worst possible thing that can happen to a student. I know when I send my children to school I don’t want their teachers holding back at all; I want them giving 110% to their jobs. And most of them do, thanks to their union.
- Comments
- 10
Janet Elizabeth Johnson - Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 02:54 pm GMT -4
Thank you for your comments.
As a special education teacher for more than 30 years, I have witnessed the decline in respect for the teaching profession in our country. I used to receive honors and awards for outstanding service to students; now the only efforts that are acknowledged are proper use of canned materials, taking data, and ensuring paperwork is accurate to avoid parents filing lawsuits.
I have experienced discrimination from sexist, incompetent administrators; if not for the support of my teachers’ union, this dedicated educator would be out of a job.
Terry - Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 11:15 pm GMT -4
I love teachers, especially good teachers. I respect education and believe a good education is necessary for everyone. I do not respect unions nor parents that expect educators to “parent” and “baby sit” their children. The reason I do not trust unions is a function of age and observation. I watched with disgust as the American Auto industry self destructed as I grew up. To be fair, it was not just the unions that caused the problems that brought our auto manufacturers to their knees, but incompetent management that allowed the unions to push through onerous employee benefit packages, and ever increasing wages even while innovation and quality consistently fell year after year. You might think,” Well, what’s that got to do with a teacher’s union?”. I’ve noticed over the years that once a union has achieved a critical mass, ie., enough membership to exert political clout, they seem to take on a life and agenda which usually is detrimental to the industry it is involved in…the union’s main concern becomes ever expanding membership and political clout. This is accomplished by hard ball negotiations to increase members wages and benefits, often to economically ridiculous levels. Now when an intrenched union negotiates with management in the private industry usually all parties to the negotiations are well known to each other and the lines are pretty clear…the union represents the members (or is it really representing itself?) and company negotiators represent management who is responsible to the shareholders. Unfortunately, when public employee unions meet with “management” they are usually meeting with politicians whose motivations often lead them to “cave in” to union demands. All economical ramifications and considerations in the long term are left for succeeding politicians to deal with. It is “kicking the can down the road” and, my friends who were born in the forties and fifties have seen this old dog and pony show decade after decade. I ask myself the same question about our educational system which produces the young students entering colleges every year, that I asked about our automobiles in the seventies and eighties….if such powerful unions whose espoused duty is to represent membership, and all of the members espouse the notion that they want to improve the product of their labors as well as their standard of living…Why does the product seem to be of less quality, year after year? No it it not the fault of the union entirely…society and family are just as important. I just resent my tax dollars going to teachers and then to the union which then wants ever more compensation for teachers. I think only the uninformed and unwise (politicians?) would agree this is an equitable situation. Terry
Terry - Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 11:22 pm GMT -4
I would like to add to my post that I do think a teacher’s union is a good idea, but I do not think it should be negotiating wages and benefits with the government. Terr
I Agree with Terry - Thursday, March 24th, 2011 12:51 am GMT -4
Terry, I think you’ve demonstrated an important point in this whole debate. The only reason this issue has any traction at all with the general public is because the general public is confused about the importance of public unions versus that of private unions. This video illustrates that point well, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyxuUjgHkgs. By their very nature, public unions and private unions perform very different functions that in turn have very different collateral effects.
Private unions, in theory, serve an important function as a remedy against abuse by those greedy corporations. However, private unions are only able to maintain an existence, and in turn provide adequate wages and benefits to its members, if it helps its corporation turn a profit. Thus, when the corporation does well, so does the private union.
However, as we have seen with the $3.6 billion deficit in Wisconsin, this is not the case with public sector unions. Instead of negotiating with greedy corporate bosses who want to squeeze out every cent of profit, public unions negotiate with people they elect. Thus, public union members are presented the question of “are you going to vote for the guy who wants to keep your compensation at current levels, or even reduce it to lower levels, or the guy who wants to increase your compensation?” As we have seen with the protestors in Madison, these public union members will support those who want to, in the least, not reduce their overall compensation.
Thus, instead of true collective bargaining, you have collusion. This collusion leads to increased costs, the funds for which must come from somewhere. Since the government receives its “profit” through taxes, it must either raise taxes or shift money away from other valuable public services in order to support the increasing compensation for public workers. Both increasing taxes and shifting funds can only go so far before the system completely breaks. Removing collective bargaining for public workers removes this problem entirely, and money can instead be spent on other valuable and necessary public services (or even tax breaks to serve as incentives for those who create jobs, but thats another argument entirely).
Private unions must help their employers by not biting off the hand that feeds them in order to remain in existence, but public unions can simply grow the hand that feeds them so that they can continue to nibble off bits and pieces here and there. That hurts us all, teachers included, and is something that the media has failed to address thus far. Until the media does so, the removal of public union collective bargaining will continue to be frowned upon by people who, after having the difference between public and private unions explained to them, will realize that public union collective bargaining ought not to exist. People who oppose the banning of collective bargaining for public unions believe themselves to be defending private union collective bargaining, when that is simply not the case. Private union collective bargaining and public union collective bargaining are two discrete issues, and should be addressed accordingly. That is a point that both the majority of people and media outlets have failed to grasp, and that is a shame.
Karen W - Thursday, March 24th, 2011 03:58 pm GMT -4
I’m with you, Chris. Thanks for speaking up. Sometimes I wonder why I speak up, too. So many believe the politicians and education is not politics!
Sandy - Friday, April 8th, 2011 03:03 pm GMT -4
Someone needs to speak up so the real issues will be highlighted. Chris, you have done us proud.
E - Friday, May 27th, 2011 11:29 pm GMT -4
First of all, if you think all teachers are there because they like kids, you are believing a fairy tale. Many come for other reasons and many become disillusioned and cynical along the way. Second of all, the teachers unions do not hold or represent my beliefs and the same is true for most teachers in at least some respects. When I start my job, I will be forced to pay dues to a group that I think is working for the detriment of students and of the country in general. Unions should stick to what they’re supposed to do: negotiate employees’ pay. They should not be massive groups with great influence in politics. There is an essential conflict of interest there. A separate political group would be fine, but having the same group responsible for both getting teachers high wages and trying to influence educational policies can poison the political attentions and will certainly make the union’s claims of altruism less credible.
International School India - Friday, July 1st, 2011 07:56 am GMT -4
Thanks for sharing! I understand why teachers support unions, but the wider issue needs to be addressed. Why in America are teachers not taken care of? Why does the US spend 130 billion a year on education, while spending 3-10x that overseas. Education should be one of Americas number one priorities. We need to start producing top notch students to propel us in the information age. We are going to allow countries such as China to pass us. In some industries China already has! Look at patents released, China will take the lead! Over both European nations and the US. Things need to change. English School India
DrEveryday - Thursday, July 7th, 2011 12:40 pm GMT -4
Having been both a teacher and administrator at both public and charter schools in underprivileged areas, I can say that neither system has it quite right. But I must acknowledge that one thing charter schools do get right is that they can fire a bad teacher.
I believe as much as humanly possible that teachers do not get enough respect and do not get enough incentive to do well. But, often, unions have done very little to get teachers respect. They get policies respect. These policies, in turn, protect the adults that work with kids from losing their jobs. Though this has admirable underpinnings, it is unhealthy for the education workforce.
I am one of those “good” teachers: teacher-of-the-year, highest scores, state championships, and all that. But I got paid just as much as the person who didn’t do anything: the teacher who brought down the education for all. In fact, because some of those bad teachers were more senior than me, they were paid more. Young teachers at the public schools would notice “hey, I’m breaking my back to bring good education to these kids–late nights, high stress, lesson planning, long hours–and Mr. X is doing nothing, getting paid the same amount. Why should I kill myself?” The cancer brought down standards for teachers, and not just for the worst of them: most teachers will choose more frequently that they don’t have to work hard “this one time” because they know there aren’t consequences for their actions. I have been a witness of young teachers becoming lemons because they can see the rewards are the same for bad teachers. It breaks my heart. I, who works for the students, am frustrated.
Yes, teachers need a voice. But teachers unions are not giving them the right voice. They are giving them the voice of “there’s nothing you can do to me.” That voice does not help kids, and in reality, does not help the bad teacher get any better. It helps very, very few indeed.
Yes, there is the chance that a good teacher comes under fire for something bad. It is nice that some contract has your back. But, it would be much better if we could fire the incompetent administrators that plague this system: if they cannot tell the difference between teachers that need reprimand and those that don’t, they should not be administrators. However, because they cannot be fired either (at least not where I live and work), the system is flush with bad administration, causing us to want teacher contracts. A good administration helps all teachers teach, recognizes those who do not want to get any better, and tries to bring them up to the rest of the staff. When those teachers do not budge, they should be removed. A bad administration is clueless about instruction, does not know which teachers are good or bad (thus is overreacts to parents), often politicks with district or senior administrators, massages numbers for appearances, and thinks that they do none of these things.
This is not to say that we need a firing spree. Research shows that only the absolutely worst teachers (and I would add administrators)–the bottom 5 to 10%–need to go to make huge gains in education. But right now, unions are protecting the disease that is bringing the rest of education down. That voice doesn’t help.
DrEveryday - Thursday, July 7th, 2011 10:41 pm GMT -4
Sorry. Apparently there is a problem with my comments appearing. Sometimes it shows, other times it doesn’t.