“The Unions Can’t Beat the Parents”
As parents focus more and more on the crisis-state of public schooling, they are confronted with the reality that it’s the adults in the room who seem to be confused about their priorities and responsibilities in our schools. Moms and dads are getting to see firsthand how the competing agendas and hidden interests of education stakeholders are major distractions and hindrances to academic achievement for the students. They’re discovering that not all classroom teachers act responsibly or ethically, that some administrators care more about their pay or reputation than the academic success of students.
Parents are also finding out that the elephant in the room may very well be the control and influence that the teachers unions have over the teaching professionals’ freedom in their classrooms. The albatross around the neck of teachers may ultimately prove to be the unions and their political loyalties and agendas. Teachers are being hamstrung by regulations, policies, and procedures that interfere with their daily classroom routines and challenges, as teachers unions focus on issues that effectively hinder the creativity and flexibility of teaching professionals. Classroom teachers certainly expect their union representatives to advocate for them in substantive and useful ways; however, what’s tricky is that the unions promote the interests of the union leadership, as opposed to the priorities of their constituents. Teachers, more than any of us, want to be treated, compensated, and developed as professionals, but not at the expense of less time and space to do what they love to do.
If classroom teachers are not able to keep their union representatives honest and accountable, then we can all be sure that parents won’t get played by the unions. Parents are not conflicted about what’s in the best interests of their children’s education. And moms and dads aren’t obligated to pay any union dues and don’t have to feel stifled by the minutiae of a collective bargaining agreement. What they care about most is placing their children in the learning environment that not only is most suitable for them, but also where the teachers are committed and competent. Unlike the unions, parents want school choices that allow them to choose what’s best for their students. Parents favor teacher evaluations and incentive compensation, as a way of rewarding teaching excellence. At the end of the day, moms and dads could care less about the noise being made by union representatives, especially if the teaching professionals themselves aren’t complaining.
Parents aren’t about to sit back and watch some educators and teachers unions use their students as proxies or pawns in a game, so that the grownups can try to get what they want out of public education, which was never established to serve the grownups in the first place. The rumblings that we’re hearing in communities everywhere are the voices and concerns of moms and dads who are rising up and advocating for new school prototypes and teacher resources and tools that enable the classroom instructors and students to be successful at doing what they do best – teach and learn.
Parents are also finding out that the elephant in the room may very well be the control and influence that the teachers unions have over the teaching professionals’ freedom in their classrooms. The albatross around the neck of teachers may ultimately prove to be the unions and their political loyalties and agendas. Teachers are being hamstrung by regulations, policies, and procedures that interfere with their daily classroom routines and challenges, as teachers unions focus on issues that effectively hinder the creativity and flexibility of teaching professionals. Classroom teachers certainly expect their union representatives to advocate for them in substantive and useful ways; however, what’s tricky is that the unions promote the interests of the union leadership, as opposed to the priorities of their constituents. Teachers, more than any of us, want to be treated, compensated, and developed as professionals, but not at the expense of less time and space to do what they love to do.
If classroom teachers are not able to keep their union representatives honest and accountable, then we can all be sure that parents won’t get played by the unions. Parents are not conflicted about what’s in the best interests of their children’s education. And moms and dads aren’t obligated to pay any union dues and don’t have to feel stifled by the minutiae of a collective bargaining agreement. What they care about most is placing their children in the learning environment that not only is most suitable for them, but also where the teachers are committed and competent. Unlike the unions, parents want school choices that allow them to choose what’s best for their students. Parents favor teacher evaluations and incentive compensation, as a way of rewarding teaching excellence. At the end of the day, moms and dads could care less about the noise being made by union representatives, especially if the teaching professionals themselves aren’t complaining.
Parents aren’t about to sit back and watch some educators and teachers unions use their students as proxies or pawns in a game, so that the grownups can try to get what they want out of public education, which was never established to serve the grownups in the first place. The rumblings that we’re hearing in communities everywhere are the voices and concerns of moms and dads who are rising up and advocating for new school prototypes and teacher resources and tools that enable the classroom instructors and students to be successful at doing what they do best – teach and learn.
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