After reading through the texts and also watching 'Waiting for Superman' there seems to be a common thread about teacher unions, that they made a mistake by leveling all teachers to the same (low?) common denominator. All teachers are on the same level, which is achievable, and pay is increased with more education and more time at the job. So, veteran teachers are paid more whether they are good or not. New teachers are paid less, even if they are master teachers. So, what are your thoughts on this topic? Is it a good idea to level the playing field? In other occupations, sales for example, there are sales quotas and if you don't meet those quotas, you're fired. It is very hard to fire a bad teacher. I believe this is a huge frustration to the public and the parents in particular who complain about a bad teacher. What are your thoughts and opinions about this topic?
I posted my comment for this entry in the wrong spot - it's on your Qualifications and Endorsements entry - sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteI am not a big fan of unions.
ReplyDeleteThad
I think that initially workers unions were a good thing to ensure a balance of power between workers and bosses. However, now i think that more power resides with the worker. It is very hard to release a poor worker. In education it is very difficult to fire a poor teacher. I think it hurts the students when unions allow poor quality teachers to continue to teach. We have rating instruments for teachers, I wish we could use them more efficiently to get rid of those teachers who consistently score low on JPAS.
ReplyDeleteI agree for the most part with Jan’s comments, I think unions keep some poor teachers in positions they should not be, which is bad for students. I teach history so I feel like I have a firm grasp of labor unions throughout the years and I think they were initially a good thing when the “robber barons” were in control, and when the government allowed monopolies. If you are interested in hearing an interesting debate on the subject download the podcast entitled “Are Teachers Unions To Blame For Failing Schools?”, from NPR. I just noticed though that the podcast is no longer available on the iPod, but you can still hear it at the following site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125019386
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