The Unions Are Failing Our Kids

I'm not much of a union fan.  They have a mindset I find offensive.  They don't seem to be willing to admit they are far better off than the average private sector  employee.  They have better salaries and certainly better benefits yet they are continually asking for more as if it were an entitlement. It also seems not to occur to them this is the reason so many people are anti-union.  Their tactics don't help either.

On an adult level a battle can be waged but when kids are used as pawns it's criminal.  After all, kids are the most valuable commodity this country has and it behooves all of us, including the unions, to see they receive the best education possible.

When I read about union efforts aimed at protecting the teacher rather than educating the child I wonder if it isn't time to eliminate them and let school districts and teachers fight over pay and benefits between themselves.  Especially when the unions, as in  New York ,  are using their position to protect sexual predators.  It is beyond defending especially in this age of Jerry Sandusky and/or the Catholic church with their recent problems.

Then too there is union opposition to charter schools.  In  Louisiana they are using their stereotypical bullying to prevent private and parochial schools from accepting students with vouchers.

Their excuse that it's unconstitutional rings hollow.  It will play out in the courts but until then the threats should not be going out stating they will use 'whatever means necessary' to prevent voucher students from attending those schools and additionally threatening them with litigation.

Let's face it, if the schools, the teachers, were doing their jobs there would be no need for charter schools or vouchers.  Even here in little Coeur d'Alene we have an excellent charter academy that's ranked number one in the state and it has a waiting list. This is indicative of parents wanting the best for their children.  Where one happens to live has nothing to do with that fact.

Unions have been around for a long time but have they outlived their usefulness?  Using teachers unions as an example perhaps so.  When it comes to protecting the teachers, good, bad and indifferent rather than working toward improving the educational system as a whole I see no point in having them what's more supporting them.

In the New York cases there is a lengthy process before a final arbitrator is chosen by both the school district and the union. An outrageous paycheck of $1400 a day certainly buys a lot of loyalty to the union representing the offending teacher resulting more often than not with a slap on the wrist when dismissal might be far more appropriate.  Such actions are an insult to not only the students and their parents, but also to every good teacher that exists.  I'd like to think they are in the majority but I'll have to see a great deal of improvement in our kids as they come out of school  to be convinced. The unions could help deliver that improvement but I've yet to see a desire to do so.