Many Teachers Are OK; It's the Damn Teachers Unions That Are the Problem

As a former teacher, principal and superintendent of schools in New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, and Califoria, I have a fairly good knowledge of how education works in the U.S.

My studies at the University of Dayton (B.A.), Xavier University (M.A.) and The Ohio State University (Ph.D.) with majors in English, Philosophy, Educational Administration, Sociology, and an S.T.B at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland have helped me to think through many issues in public education.

It has been 51 years since I began my teaching caareer in New York. I have come to the following major conclusion:

TEACHERS UNIONS ARE THE WORST INSTITUION THAT HAVE PERVADED PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND HAVE HAD THE MOST DELETERIOUS EFFECT AND NEGATIVE IMPACT ON EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES!

Think it through with me. There are four reasons why I have reached this rational conclusion. It is based on the union proposals that I have studied, argued, and negotiated for the past 30 years. They all contain the same major ideas and issues.

1) They want more money.

2) They want more fringe benefits.

3) They want less work and less responsibility.

4) They want more power.

That's it!

Of the hundreds of demands that I have read in their proposals for negoations, I have NEVER seen one that asks for some item to be placed in their contracts that will redound to the direct benefit for the child's education. Not one.

Read teachers contracts. If you find one positive item that states that they want some element or item added that will contribute to the direct, positive learning of the student, please let me know about it. It will be a FIRST.

Do you agree with this simple, but rational analysis?


Response to Don.

I do not agree. Teachers can choose to be a part of the union or not. If a person does not speak out against the problem they are not part of the solution. Cathy

"And if you are a teacher who belongs to the teachers union, thus helping to perpetuate with your dues their iron grip on the current system, you, too, are anti-education. " Charles Muth