Teaching & Unions

I read this article in the New York Times about unionizing in charter schools that seemed to focus on Illinois. Teachers at charter schools were frustrated with the long hours and the high turnover. They felt they deserved a comparable wage to what public school teachers earn, and that the workload was affecting the quality of the service they provide. Here in Illinois, charter schools are increasing in popularity and the governor has just signed a bill to double their number in Illinois.

I know almost nothing about unions. Learning about them is on my bucket list. What I do know is that unions get very bad press. They are blamed for the excessive costs that brought down GM and Chrysler. However, a lack of them is also said to maintain the low wages associated with southern car manufacturing plants, as well as pricing GM and Chrysler out of business. I think they’re very necessary for workers to have their voice heard, and people had to fight for the right to form a union.

The unions are empowering some charter school teachers, according to the NYT article. However, this article on Huffington Post is a glaring counter point. Over 700 teachers are sitting around doing nothing with full pay, because the union limbo (not to mention a swamp of corrupt administrators). My simple mind wonders if some unions may too big to work effectively for both teachers and students. You want the teachers to have equivalent pay, especially across a school district. However, you also want the schools to have freedom to design their own schedules and curriculum and the flexibility to put the right teachers where they're needed most.

Do private schools have unions? I think that in society today we’ve turned education into a commodity, to the point where people start to believe that is something they can do without. But that’s another blog post.

I’m going to learn more about unions to find out:
1. Prevalence of unions in Illinois, USA.
- Numbers
- Mission statements
2. Conditions that facilitate union activity.
3. Perception of unions’ impact on student performance.
4. Perceived wins and losses for teachers unions.