Schools Won’t Improve Without Labor Reform
by Kyle OlsonThere is common agreement between education reformers and the status quo protectors that the most important element to a good education is a good teacher.
Teachers unions suggest that the way to retain “good” teachers is to pay them all more. The collectivist mentality is that every teacher is equal, works equally hard and should be compensated equally.
Many reformers believe that the way to spur improvement and innovation is to reward success, hard work and hold the adults accountable for student achievement. That, of course, flies in the face of collectivism because it incentivizes individual teacher achievement.
This is a result of organized labor having such an iron grip on many American public schools. Weak-kneed school boards and administrators have allowed Big Labor to be the gate-keepers of reform efforts.
And worse, apathetic taxpayers allow Big Labor to call the shots. Just ask Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Fenty has been aggressive at reforming DC Public Schools, which has frittered away hundreds of millions of dollars over the years and produced some of the worse results in the country. Fenty hired Michelle Rhee, a reformer that pushed for performance pay for teachers, making it easier to remove ineffective teachers and other reforms that are an affront to labor leaders.
According to Politico, the American Federation of Teachers plopped $1 million down to defeat Fenty and thus Rhee. It was successful and now Rhee’s DC days are limited.
So labor unions know if they can’t knee-cap the reform initiatives, they can defeat the leaders pushing the ideas.
School employee unions have been steadfast in their defense of their members. The end result? Bad teachers stay in the system.
A New York City principal was quoted in New Yorker magazine as saying Weingarten “would protect a dead body in the classroom.”
One has to wonder what type of quality education a “dead body” could deliver to students.
With “Waiting for Superman,” a new documentary on the state of public education, as well as NBC’s Education Nation taking center stage this week, a serious debate over labor reform must accompany any discussions about the education system.
If teachers want to take the credit for pockets of success, they must also share the blame for widespread failure.
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72 Comments
Schools?
Labor Reform?
Did anyone happen to catch Obama on the idiot box this morning, discussing education?
Evidently, he switching gears, and has a new Number One Top Priority du jour; Education.
Nice trick, since everything he does regarding the economy, unemployment, the war, and everything else he comes in contact with turns turns south and heads right down the crapper.
At least a DEAD BODY is a true Socialist and can no longer attempt to indoctrinate our children.
I didn't catch that. Did he say it was a crisis and unsustainable?
As long as we cannot fire an incompetent teacher because the Unions protect them, our children's education will be inferior.
He was just blathering about how America's schools are substandard, and need more money dumped down a black hole.
Best way to save the Schools is to get rid of the Unions, best way to get rid of the Unions is pass a law which states that Government Employees are banned from joining a Union.
Best way to get that done is have someone sue from the United States Militrary in order to be able to join a Union under the Equal Protection clause.
Either all Government Workers should be in the Union, to include the Members of the United States Military, or none should.
That would mean that a Private in the United States Military could see his pay triple, and working conditions become safer, no more going out to work when there is shooting going on and such.
Equipment would not be carried on the body, more equipment would be bought to carry the equipment once carried by the Troop.
The workday would be shorter, 8 hours, and Officers would have to go to the Union before any order was issued to the Troops.
The Military Budget would of course go up, to about 1 Trillion a year, or more.
Hell, a Union Military would mean that there would never be any cuts to the Military Budget.
I cant help but notice the sigh they are holding, ( I am Union an Damn proud). Does this mean they are proud of being a FAILURE ?
Run Education like a business. If you produce good results you stay and get a raise. If you don't, you are fired. The "bleeding heart Democrats" will come up with an excuse not to do this. That's why, in Nov, they will be Fired!
We need unions out of education, the Fed Gov out of education and parents in control of their child's education. Without all 3, don't look for much if any improvement.
Unions are out of control across America. They are now an arm of the Democrat party, and sometimes the socialist party, because many Democrats are members of the Democratic Socialist Party. Therefore Unions need to be banned and become extinct!
More and more people are getting it…….
The government that governs less….governs best…
Thomas Jefferson
Get the damn goverrnment out of the way and let the 'people' deal with these unions….
Until a voucher system is implemented in a major way,
Obama can pander and blather all he wants, and nothing will change for the better..
(Vouchers mean parental choice without union involvement.).
Remember the Union bosses marching up the stairs of the Capitol to see Obama and demanded that they be exempt from some of his Policies? They got their exemptions, and we got Marxism!
Dismantle Unions.
I'm sure that a week before the election, it will be the full blown crisis du-jour.
When you see Unions using their member's Dues to support Obama Policies that the members are against, then it's time to dismantle Unions because they NO longer represent the Citizens!
"Schools won't improve without labor reform"
The entire economy will not improve until there is labor reform.
Break up the mega-unions. Limit all unions to intra-state organizations – no labor union must be allowed to operate in more than one state, or coordinate with unions in other states. Forbid unions from making political campain expenditures until and unless their legacy obligations (pensions, et al) are FULLY funded. Pass legislation in all states allowing union members to opt to not allow their dues to fund political issues that the member doesn't agree with.
Just for a start….
Everyone talks about UNIONs.
But what is a union really?
Union members have been sold the "collective bargaining" bill of goods for so long, that they really do not know. Essentially, a Union is an organization that promises its members that they can have more, for less, for a fee.
Look way back in history.
Back to Karl Marx, and his involvement in Unions. That should be an eye opener for all Comrades.
Read this about the mass level of voter fraud committed in Kansas City. Notive the lack of care. This is the democrats November plan.
.
. http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/sneak_prev...
School reform will come with labor reform and parental choice. But, I also wonder how much actual improvement we will see until we also have some societal reform so that children are growing up in healthy family situations. That requires that we reform the "War of Poverty."
You are spot on
The only ones responsible for 'substandard' schools are the dims!!! He needs to go back to Chicago with Rahm..
Until parents of our students (consumers) see the correlation between the practices of teacher unions and the their lack of concern for kids, then this will go no where to reform. These teacher unions are about power and money. They have little regard for students….. unless it enriches the union thugs.
The Democrat (progressive, marxist) party has so many arms it is like an octopus.
The answer to education funding is very simple, outlaw ALL civil service and public employee unions.
Union members RARELY get 'permanently fired', at will employees do.
This is the only way to ensure that the school system is purged of habitual benefit abusers and recidivist under-performing goldbricks.
Conservatives can run school boards – it is a lot of work – our board is faced with socialist crap and propaganda all the time. We simply ask, "how are you going to fund this?" and when they tell us to raise taxes, we say "HELL NO!"
Only slightly OT, if we are even CONSIDERING real reforms in this country, we have got to be informed about the mental dysfunction of our "progressive" opposition. I have found the perfect article. Check out this gem from the NYDN:
"Obama has two problems: The first is that he has to battle an opposition that has sold out to the extremes of its base in order to gain power, integrity be damned. No matter how mentally unbalanced the charges, the GOP will buy in if those charges draw enough followers. Responsible Republicans like Peggy Noonan, George Will and David Brooks have not been able to hold back the devil dogs foaming at the mouth." http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/09/27/20...
They are proud of the quality work that most of them do. They are proud of the fact that they think they have retirement and healthcare paid for after their years of work. They are proud of the economic fairy tales they have been told by Union management and still believe. When the Union leaders kill the goose that lays the golden egg, their PRIDE will turn to ANGER and this will be very dangerous.
Oh the joy of that thought. All Sunshine and lollipops! Maybe we can Unionize the homeless while were at it, makes as much sense.
Well written EOD.
Teachers are essential and the market can drive their salarys just fine and should be a local issue.
Get the Federal Government and the unions out of the schools-ban them, so teachers can get back to basic ABCs instead of being distracted with social engineering and global warming.
it would be a boon to all if they were to become familiar with the NEA screed 'Goals 2000'…
Written some years ago, it spelled out what the NEA wanted to implement long term. A Progressive wish list, it had nothing to do with the education and futures of the children- but everything to do with controlling young minds, dividing them from their families through a 'mentoring' process, and lockstep obediance to a centralized union in order to both maintain power and, as Hitler and Mao asserted, 'controlling the people by controlling the youth'.
They want them stupid. Easier to control. This is all a result of The Peanut and the 1977 implementation of the Department of Education which has given the taxplayer less for more than any other department since the government was created. Centralize education authority and brainwash the children.
But people are now wise to this as even the lefty filmmakers and 'Waiting For Superman' shows. The facade is crumbling- and the people in charge are in a panic.
Good…
What happened to the old-fashioned idea of "Pay for Performance"?
It really needs to be mandated in schools throughout the country. Your students excel, then you get a pay increase. They repeatedly do bad, you get shown the door.
While the Unions complicate this prospect (and eliminiating teachers unions is by far the easiest way to implement it), it would not be unheard of to force it into the collective bargaining agreement – using a standardized set of rules as far as a what is considered "exceeds", "passing" and "fails" in the process, as well as grounds for termination.
To me, that's the best way for "No Child Left Behind" – fix the educators. then fix the schools.
Every day's already a holiday in the Military, and every meal is already a feast. Hell, with a Union protecting the Military Members, well, I don't see how anything could go wrong with that, for about the first 30 minutes or so.
The Homeless are also Unionless?
One would think the Democrats would have already cracked that case, seeing how the Homeless would pull Liberal, and ACORN gets the Homeless to register to vote multiple times each Election Cycle.
Get rid of the Dept. of Education.
Get rid of unions.
Place school responsibility in local communities.
When I become President of the world, these things will happen. Plus, I'm getting rid of bycicle pants. Really.
Notice the sign…
"I'm UNION and I"M Damn Proud of It"..
Reeeeaally NOW???
Do I possibly detect a teeeeny bit of reaction here due to the American Taxpayer finally waking up
and pulling this ecoonomic puzzle apart to examine each part in deep, deep detail?
Good Luck UNION boys and girls…
First we come for your bought and paid for political hacks…
Then we come for YOU!
You can march and rabble rouse till the cows come home…
We will be sure the proper laws are passed to SEVERLY CURTAIL your activities.
Take that to the bank.
.
I hate unions just as much as the rest of you and agree that they need to be done away with. However, the bigger question is, what do we do about public education? The experiment is a obvious failure. A two part solution would be to ban unionization of any government employment and to privatize education. Actions have consequences. If you have children, you are responsible for educating that child. We are so far removed from the idea that actions have consequences that we have incorporated such apathetic ideas as public education. For many it is nothing more than free daycare for children that they couldn't otherwise raise on their own. A large portion of the population contributes nothing to pay for public education.
This goes hand in hand with our welfare and tax system of social engineering. We are raising weak, dumb, dependent children that become more so with each passing generation. The continual, artificial suspension of consequences cannot lead to a positive end.
Good post, dcase …the NEA was just following the "Communist Goals of 1963" …couldn't be as blunt though as too many teachers still think they are trying to make a difference for the better – useful idiots.
Truth be told.
The Unions have RUINED the schools, education and the teachers and families as a whole.
Believe me, I'm all for getting rid of the Teacher's Unions. You could take the $ saved from all the Union related fees/dues and cut operating cost AND give some back for those teachers that give a cr@p and do a good job. You'll still end up with a net savings to these districts.
The teacher competency issue, though, will be tougher to iron out. Unfortunately, if the kids, and more importantly their parents, don't give a cr@p, you can't do anything about it. The test scores will be abysmal. The teacher may be doing one hell of a job with 75% of the students who do care … the remainder will drag down the class average.
Repeal executive order 10988!!!!!
AMEN!
Repeal executive order 10988!!!!!
And Home School your kids!
AMEN!
Well, bad news, there already are unions in the military. The National Guard and Reserve have many General Schedule (GS) employees walking around in uniforms. Take a look at the civilians in the Regular forces, and you'll see plenty of union (GS) employees.
they have NO new ideas…
Everything is a recitiation of the Progressive 100 year plan. All roads lead to Rome, as it were. The great lie is that somehow these disparate movements- Communism, Socialism, Fascism and Progressivism are somehow 'different'.
They aren't…
Not a bad idea. Let's also set the salaries and benefits of Senators and Congressmen/women at the state level. That way they have to come to the state legislators for their pay and perks. No more of them setting their salaries in Washington but by state referendum.
Sort of like Bart Simpson: "I'm an underachiever and proud of it, man!"
"Teachers unions suggest that the way to retain “good” teachers is to pay them all more"
Right. Everybody, envision this scenario: when you call an underperforming employee on his unsatisfactory work, he says, "Well, if you give me a big raise I won't do such a crappy job."
How about labor REMOVAL? Unions have become part of the problem, no longer the solution– they allow thugs to run the place……e.g. SEIU……in order to get enough "attendance" (which these days in government schools, simply means warm bodies) to qualify for "federal teat" dollars (from OUR pockets of course)………so if you can get each government school off the "federal teat" they will be empowered to "remove the problem"………
You have it in reverse, the Unions OWN the democrats.
If JFK and Moonbeam Brown can make "collective bargaining" {unions} legal with a stroke of a pen, why can a conservative not reverse them?
No more Department of Education. No more unions in public schools. No more unions for ANY government workers.
…better yet, Indonesia.
Keep in mind when teacher unions "plop" down millions of dollars fighting education reform, they are plopping down your tax dollars that fund their salaries and their union dues. They are using YOUR money to screw you. Remember that when teacher unions use YOUR tax dollars to screw up one more election in their favor.
Follow teacher union money to the ballot box and starve out any candidate the teacher unions are trying to buy with YOUR money to get even more of YOUR money.
Anyone serving on a school board has to set limits at the start such as only 80-85% will ever be spent on personnel costs, including future retirement and health care obligations. Some elected boards spend well over that so there is nothing left for program changes, accountability and physical plant maintenance.
Never vote for anyone who has ties to teacher union interests or gets endorsements or major donations from them because then they sit on both sides of the negotiating table and you are screwed. This is easy to find out. You make your own problems if you keep voting in well-funded union backed school board candidates.
People need to get over their romanticized visions of private enterprise unions rising up against the Dickensonian capitalist bosses who worked them to death for sheer greed, and gobbled up gritty child laborers at the same time.
That is so yesterday but this image is still being exploited by the masses of public employees who produce nothing, have only your tax dollars for an income stream and who are already so over-paid and benefited to be a national embarrassment. Public employee unions like SEIU are thugs and you keep paying them. Stop it!
Ah yes, the standard answer for politicians to "fix" a problem, toss so much money into and it'll eventually be fixed…sigh…what morons.
Most Executive Orders are unconstitutional, they should all be gone through and either repealed or made into law.
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executiv...
http://www.conservativeusa.org/eo/default.htm
I've been with some really BAD and tenured professors before, and I'm quite sure a dead body would have been better than those professors. While both stink and are quite bloated, a dead body can't make things worse and it's fun to poke.
Duh, everything is Bush's fault
Clint Eastwood's new movie "The Hereafter" debuts in USA on 22 October 2010 : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212419/
The Tea Party first election debut is 2 November 2010, make sure we keep it going "Hereafter".
2 NOvember 2010, the Hereafter, eternal vigilance, constitutionality and liberty. NO RINOs, NO Rats.
if your running on the pants platform you have my vote
making my sign now
"de-pants the world"
(oh ya-down with unions also)
Education is our responsibility as parents and citizens. There are many issues in each local school district. Pester the teachers, administrators and school boards on EVERY ISSUE. Do not give them a moments respite. Campaign for and elect conservatives to the school board. Support measures that would increase homeschooling and private schools. Support vouchers. Competition will weed out the public school system if real alternatives are provided.
It's quite common for teachers unions to pack school boards with their puppets. On our board, we have a teacher from another district and the spouse of a teacher from another district. Another member is a faculty member of a teacher's college. So right there, three of the six are pro-union. Two of the other five are pro-union as well. One of those abuses her position to get special favors for her three children in the district.
Whenever some group comes along to challenge union domination, the teachers mount a smear campaign against them. They do it through the PTA groups, which area almost always pro-teacher (because of the close working relationship between the teachers and the active parents).
It takes a lot of work to turn a board around. Parents have a natural fear of retribution against their kids if they do so much as put a sign on their front lawn for an anti-union candidate.
Until and unless we have a Constitutional amendment making public sector unions and all forms of public sector collective bargaining illegal, this country is doomed to continue to decline towards second or even third world status.
All politics are local, we must start there if we are to win the battle.
PUBLIC SCHOOLING = SUBSIDIZED DAY CARE
schools will not improve without labor DISSOLUTION! same as with many other 'industries'.
All unions need to be done away with (esp for gov employees), but until all parents are active participants in their child's education, and raise their expectations for their children, the schools/teachers can't solve all the issues.
not: "de-union the world" and (down with pants)?
A dead body is also a vote for a democrat.
President Carter created the National Department of Education to pay off the teachers' union for their support and role in electing him POTUS. If we want to see positive and lasting change in education we must demand that the National Department of Education be abolished. Control of the schools must be returned to the citizens of each school district that elect the local school board members and state legislators. Charter schools must have accountability directly to the citizens of the state from whom they derive much of their funding. No more control of local schools by the federal government who then use money to force liberal social agendas upon the children of "we the people".
lol
depends on the priority at the time
you say potato
i say potatoe
Evidently not proud of their grammar skills.
Actions have consequences. If you have children, you are responsible for educating that child. We are so far removed from the idea that actions have consequences that we have incorporated such apathetic ideas as public education. For many it is nothing more than free daycare for children that they couldn't otherwise raise on their own. Regards, Mary cna
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