People have told me that my education commentaries have ruffled some feathers.
Well, here I go again! One of the problems our educational system encounters is the unions. Let me state at the outset that while most teachers are competent and dedicated, there are those who should not even be close to a classroom. These incompetents or worse are protected by the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and their associated locals. The problem with unions is that they exist to protect the teachers and the union administrations jobs, benefits and retirement.
Can I prove that statement? Have you heard of the rubber rooms, i.e. Temporary Reassignment Centers! These are places where teachers so unsuited for teaching that they must be kept out of classrooms are housed. In 2009, in New York City there were more than 700 teachers doing crossword puzzles, reading, playing chess or practicing ballet moves in these centers. They showed up when school began, left when school ended, had summer vacations off and all the normal vacation days. They were paid their salaries and had all the benefits of teachers except they werent teaching. This cost the city between $35 million and $65 million a year for salary and benefits alone, depending on who was doing the estimating. Added to that number are the substitute cost, rubber room rental and $500,000 for security.
What is this all about? Well, the mayor and chancellor wanted to fire these deadheads, but they couldnt. They are protected by tenure laws, collective bargaining contracts and by the United Federation of Teachers, the local union. The UFT was the power behind the laws and the legal defender of each and every teacher whose job was threatened. After the New York Daily News exposed the rubber rooms, the unions agreed to have the teachers reassigned to semi-useful clerical tasks but refused to expedite the dismissal process. Instead they filed grievances against the school district.
Bad teachers are protected by the union, but who is protecting the students?
According to the pro-education reform documentary Waiting for Superman, one out of every 57 doctors loses his or her license to practice medicine. One out of every 97 lawyers loses his license to practice law.
In most major cities, only 1 out 1,000 teachers is fired for performance-related reasons. Why? Tenure.
Given the money and power of the unions, the cost to fire incompetent or ineffective teachers is enormous. In New York City, it averages $163,142 per case, in New York State about $128,941. Illinois average is $219,504. Ohio is relatively inexpensive but it will still cost the state about $50,000 to get rid of an incompetent. Our neighbors in Idaho have been known to spend $150,000 to get rid of a bad teacher.
Al Shanker, the former president of the American Federation of Teachers, admitted, A lot of people who have been hired as teachers are basically not competent.
Teachers unions have more influence on public schools than any other group in American society. They shape the schools from the bottom up through collective bargaining activities so broad in scope that every aspect of school organization bears their imprint. From the top down their political activities give them unrivaled influence over laws and regulations imposed on public education by government. This allows them to block or weaken governmental reforms they deem threatening.
Many of us old fogies compare our schools of the 1940s and 1950s with what is happening today. Well,times changed in the 1960s. Before then schools were run by the administrators and the local school boards. The National Education Association was a professional organization. In the 1960s, states began to adopt collective bargaining rules for public employees. The recruiting campaign began and the NEA became a union. Our public education system was transformed. Since the 60s weve had a 372 percent increase (in todays dollars) in per child expenditures; our test scores now place us below Slovenia and Hungary, former Communist bloc countries.
The change has been: teachers unions and the Department of Education.
We will return to excellence in education with the abolition of unions and reestablishing local control.
Larry Tradlener lives down McElmo Canyon.
