[geeks] One of the things I love about America

[wa2egp at att.net]

> I meant to reply to the prior comment (who was replying to me), but I'll 
> reply to you instead.
> 
> The problem isn't that a teachers union is supposed to serve kids.  The 
> problem is that the teachers union is respected as an authority on 
> education.  You have to be wary about taking advice from an entity that is
> there solely to serve itself.

Sounds like the government ;->

> One of the things that sets me off about teachers unions is that while many
> teachers I've met plan to, or are, homeschooling, many places, but 
> particularly in PA, the teachers union is dead set against allowing it. They
> claim the reason is because the believe it is bad for the states kids.  But,
> if the union purpose is to serve itself, shouldn't we be looking for their
> motivation there rather than some concern for the kids?  And further, 
> shouldn't we think that this is a biased opinion?  But people take it as
> solid advice from the experts instead.

I would agree.  Being a building rep, it would be expected that I would be against
some of these things but in reality, I have no problem with these alternatives
IF they give the student a good education.  In the urban district
where I work, the mayor was putting in charter schools left and right.  Unforch,
his pride and joy charter school was an absolute failure.  Only 1.2% of the
students passed the state standard tests.  The worst public primary school did at
least 20 times better (still pretty crappy).  Here, it doesn't work.  Who gets
hurt?  The students.  (BTW, these tests are not a good measure of what students
have learned but they are what the state requires and most people use as the measure.

> In recent years (OK, in my life time), I've only heard of unions being 
> beneficial in one case.  There is a company that imports teachers for 
> highschools from places like Japan, etc.  It brings the teachers here to
> work in American schools.  In most places the union insisted that the 
> teachers be union memebers, paid on the union pay scale, etc.  In one
> case (Philadelphia, I believe), the union didn't insist on this, so the
> school district allowed the teachers to be retained as employees by the 
> company that brought them here, where the company that brought them here
> financially abused very harshly.  So, in most cases (except Philly, I think),
> the union prevented foreign teachers from being abused.
> 
> On a side note, I've heard a lot of teachers gripe about the union, and only
> being members of it because they couldn't get jobs otherwise.

Not true.  You do not have to be a member of the union to teach, but in many districts
you may have to pay a percentage of the dues since "you are benefiting from the
contract negotiations".  My district, there is no such rule.  We do not have a closed
shop, although they would like it to be that way.

> But anyway, enough griping about the teachers union.  I don't believe it 
> should be disbanded or anything.  I just think that for the most part they
> have too much political influence.  I don't know that campaign finance 
> reform would help with this though, because going against the union tends
> to make people look bad.  I think it was the discussion of campaign finance
> reform that brought this up, but I'm too lazy to check the archives to see
> what the topic was.

Griping about teachers and the teachers' union is the American way, especially around
election time.  Heck, the union does things which make me scratch my head.  Keep in mind
that we are paid less than most, if not all, other "professional" jobs with the same
required education.  When I started, my salary was $13207 and my wife started at AT&T
the following year for $24000.  That was 22 years ago.  I caught up four years ago. 
(My pay scale is not linear so she still has made more total money than I have)

Sorry about the rant but I get tired of hearing how teachers/union have too much power,
getting paid too much, not working enough, etc.  And on top of it, the ills of
society are caused by the teachers.  Remember this, the National Education Associating is
the largest union in the US.  Be afraid......be very afraid.  ;->