In an article at politico.com, Stephanie Simon presents a gloomy portrait of the future of teacher unions.
At the outset, she acknowledges that the unions have been the target of “a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign portraying them as greedy and selfish.”
This campaign is funded by billionaires, millionaires, ALEC, powerful corporations (Koch brothers?), rightwing think tanks, and wealthy foundations, all of whom we must assume are noble and selfless, not “greedy and selfish” like those no-good, lazy, worthless teachers. And then there are the academics who receive lavish funding from the noble and selfless billionaires and millionaires to produce studies and reports about the greedy and selfish teachers and unions.
But, as Simon reports, the campaign seems to be effective, as union membership falls and revenues decline. As evidence, she offers poll numbers reported by Paul Peterson’s group at Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and “Education Next,” both of which support vouchers and charters and oppose teachers unions and are funded by the afore-named groups of billionaires and millionaires. The numbers may or may not be correct, but the source is not reliable since both PEPG and “Education Next” are part of the campaign to rid the nation of teachers unions. But Simon does not mention that PEPG is an integral part of the anti-union campaign.
Simon ends the article by concluding that unions only make matters worse if they fight back against the wealthy coalition that now seeks to destroy workers’ rights:
“And some analysts, even those sympathetic to organized labor, say the teachers unions risk alienating the public with their constant complaints about the conspiracy of wealthy forces arrayed against them and their defense of job protections like those found unconstitutional this week in California.
“It’s entirely possible,” Kerchner said, “that unions can turn public education into a bad brand.”
In other words, resistance is futile.
But many teachers would not agree at all. They don’t believe that the 1%–and those who are on their payroll–are fighting for civil rights and social justice. they believe that it is imperative to stand up for hard-working teachers and the children they teach every day. Teachers are not greedy and selfish. their unions are not wrong to stand up for the rights of teachers, which are under attack in many states. Accepting the claims and the rhetoric of the privatization movement is a recipe for losing public education and the teaching profession, not just losing the unions.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The only thing that will potentially save the teachers’ unions if they actually start acting like unions again.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-teachers-strike-education-minister-committed-to-averting-walkout-1.2673152
Agreed. Teachers unions have to start articulating why helping teachers also helps student to combat the anti union rhetoric–and the need to start NOW.
Wow, look at that first comment, up already.
Chicago isn’t happening and didn’t happen, Bob? Do you even know what we actual teachers in our teachers unions are doing, or do you just read the papers and blog about how “they” should “start” acting?
If you’ve got a computer, you can put in some actual work and find out what “they” are acting like in places like Seattle, New York, Newark and Holyoke. You could write about the theory and practice of community centered, social justice unionism (It isn’t JUST calling a strike).
For instance, I WORKED today, really hard, and talked with colleagues, and many of us stayed at work till 6:30 Wednesday to shake hands with parents, and I collared the president of the school committee and reminded her who she is, and tomorrow I’m driving Worcester to a way cool meeting.
awesome
Chicago was fantastic. It did absolutely nothing for us here in Florida except accelerate the state’s determination to strip us of our due process protections. We are now limited to negotiating salary and benefits only.
I supported the CTU and wish you well. I wish there was solidarity, however, and that the AFT and NEA could do something for those of us in Right to Work states that don’t enjoy the freedoms you have in the Northeast.
Oh, and I spent the afternoon talking with my members (I am a building rep) about a state survey about VAM, forwarding email links to the survey to all members’ summer addresses, and reassuring members on the phone that they will not be let go without notice over the summer.
I’m on “summer vacation” for 2 days now. I’ll be driving to an update 2 week training course Sunday. None of this work, however, is going to have much impact in saving my union. I was recruiter of the month for recruiting two new members last semester. The 5 new teachers, however, were not interested. Their pay is so low they can barely survive and they simply can’t afford the dues, especially when they don’t really get any protections anymore from being a member. Discount and offers to sell you insurance aren’t much help in today’s economy to new teachers with huge student loans. I keep telling them that someday the union will stand up and fight for them.
But I’ll keep fighting to get my brothers and sisters in the rank and file and the national organization to remember that we are here and we are bearing the brunt of the attacks. All the reforms that are hitting you guys now were born and raised here in Florida.
chemtchr, there are only 12 states left in the United States where it is legal for teachers to strike. It is important to reassert that right. It can only be taken from those who refuse to assert it. The Seattle MAP protest, the Chicago strike, these are models, but they are hardly, now, the norm, are they?
Both Chemctr and Chris-
Exemplary!
Absolutely correct. There is unfortunately only one Karen Lewis; and very few like her. When from the presidencies of the AFT and NEA, to the local halls in districts across the nation, Gates money has twisted loyalties, we have little to cheer. Unions that buy into the “collaborative” model of existence have sold out their membership. Gates always provides cash for branding, “education” and simulated grass-roots support for his products – often the membership is unaware their leadership has been turned. Once they come to the truth, at least in Florida, teachers simply quit and pocket the savings. No hue and cry.
Older teachers dropping off the rolls requires replenishment from the bottom. The rank-and-file will not aggressively promote a union that has screwed them; administration cooperation is required to help keep the numbers up. Game over.
To function properly, the labor / management relationship must have an adversarial component; just like our legal system.
Agreed. There should NEVER have been laws passed to begin with that barred teachers from striking. It’s because of that teachers’ “unions” are seen as weak and ineffective, which they are. That is why they have been so easy for the privatizers to demonize–they KNOW they are weak.
Teachers should have the right to strike, period. They are not police and fire personnel where in the case of striking would have a negative impact on public safety. The public’s “right” to have what they perceive are babysitters is not a valid reason for teachers being denied the right to strike.
Next will be the rest of the public sector unions once teacher unions are eliminated.
Stephanie is part of the problem. She wants the self-fulfilling prophesy to kick in. Teachers who fail to support the changes they want in their unions, if they have a union, will aid and abet the reformers who want teachers to be like workers at Walmart.
I was sitting with a cup of coffee and the newspaper when i caught a commercial for Walmart touting their support for Walmart workers. In my mind, I saw myself spitting the coffee across the table. Since I would have to clean it up, I resisted the urge.
Teacher unions need to take over teacher preparation. Demand qualifications that TFA can’t provide. Start by training teachers how to use technology effectively for teaching and learning and not allow technology to used only for CC assessment.
You probably don’t want to hear Barbarea Madeloni’s reaction to vendors like you talking about coming in and “training” us, Dan.
“I develop and implement eLearning tools for instruction and staff development.” you say. Your whole presentation is offensive and arrogant, in its assertion that teachers aren’t already developing better tech “tools” than you’ve dreamed up. In promoting yourself, you find it necessary to patronize and demean teachers, but we don’t need or want services like that.
For instance, my own MTA union has scheduled workshops where teachers can be developing and using this project at our upcoming summer conference.
http://isenseproject.org/
Last summer, a group of us teachers worked with National Park Service scientists at Purchase Knob, for instance. For years before that, groups of us have developed environmental field experiences with kids from around the Gulf of Maine, and we landed our air quality data from Chelsea and our explorations of a Nova Scotia salt marsh on Google Earth.
We sure don’t need opportunists like you in our way, training at us, if you were hoping to get a gig.
My sincere apologies, Chemtchr, for using the term, ‘training’. I try to avoid using it and should not have in this instance. I think if you actually read my blog and/or do a search on it for the term,’training,’ you’ll note that I’ve only used it once in the last five years, in an Aug. 12, 2010 post, writing about professional development of teachers. In that instance, I used it to describe the Teachers on Special Assignment who are actually administrators in ‘training.’
My 1-6 license is still current. I was a MFT59 building steward for many years, and have logged many hours in support of colleagues. My support of teachers, especially urban unionized teachers like I was for 15 of the last twenty years, is very well documented.
The iSense projects to which you refer looks very interesting. Best wishes for more success with efforts like that.
Dan McGuire
I effectively used a chalkboard and chalk and erasers very effectively for many years. The students probably learned more than if I had power pointed the notes.
“If you would just stay in place and not raise such a fuss. I mean, people may agree with your goals, but they can’t support you when you’re so disruptive and uppity. Just stay in place and wait till the people with power are ready to give things to you as they wish.”
Hey, what do you know? Education really IS a modern civil rights issue!
“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.”
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”
“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”
Frederick Douglass was right then.
Frederick Douglass is right now.
😎
Amen to this.
To save the unions they must take a similar direction that is necessary for public schools. It begins with the agenda of children. I marched, with others, in Madison Wisconsin when the Governor chose to take action that limited the abilities of unions.
Later, reflecting on this, I realized that the march had one agenda, adults. That’s not a bad thing by itself, however, it is in the perception of the public.
When unions demonstrate what they do for children, then and only then will they become viable again. Yes, they support their members, but support them in enhancing the education and thus the lives of children. After all, that’s what teachers do.
And to do this they must support a fair and equitable accountability plan, one that assures the success of all kids on a level playing field. When they connect how their membership can have a positive impact on children, they will then have the credibility that goes with it.
To do this, the system must change to allow teachers to take back their profession. Unions and teachers must take a leadershil role in devising this plan so they can say, “this is what kids learned in my class this year”. Not how they did on a test, but a higher form of learning some refer to as teaching the whole child. Testing, or lower level learning is not an indicator, by itself, of this.
Be the change with the agenda of children and the rest will fall in place.
The rank and file are going to have to take them over or else get a real union like the Teamsters to represent them.
I believe if the legislature or the Judicial system of California start playing around with teachers rights and benefits you will see a state wide strike like never before. LAUSD is strong enough to have saved adult education from being axed and I walked the streets to prevent it. That the unions are being so challenged is very serious. . We can and will walk when pushed to the limits. And taking away tenure and seniority is the limit for most of us. Retired though I be, I’d still walk with the teachers.
We Won’t Give Up. We Educate America. We are NEA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPcQ2FrRPMI&sns=tw via @youtube
We are indeed.
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing it.
Okay, he is talking the talk, now let’s see if he will walk the walk.
I’m glad he used his office to speak up for once, but unfortunately, Dennis needs to leave office now.
We are the NEA, we teachers in our local associations.
The billionaires want to get rid of ALL unions…..period. “Simon ends the article by concluding that unions only make matters worse if they fight back against the wealthy coalition that now seeks to destroy workers’ rights:” Ms. Simon could not be more wrong, unions absolutely should fight back because the billionaires are out to destroy unions whether they cooperate or not. If anything, many union members are upset that their unions (NEA and AFT for example) have played footsie with the oligarchs and in the end the oligarchs stabbed the unions in the back anyhow. During the 50s and 60s, many whites and people in positions of power told the civil rights leaders to go slow and not to be too demanding, in other words, just wait another 50 years for equality and justice. That would be the Simon/Quisling position, shut up, be quiet, don’t make waves just sit on your hands and hope for some pity from the ruling elites.
Teachers are professionals who are treated like grocery clerks. I would like to see locals take more responsibility for the quality of teaching through control over professional development finds, mentoring and peer assessment, used in many locals. I would like to see state laws about duty for fair representation by the unions changed to eliminate allegations of criminal behavior and some of the more egregious behavior that is indefensible. I would like to see the president of the US replace Arne Duncan as a small way of thanking the thousands of unionized teaches who worked for the president’s election to senate and White House.
I am certainly pleased that there is some balancing in the political influence of some teacher’s unions because I feel that they have spent significant member resources on political strategies that is unknown to most of the rank and file members. Having been a member at one time and politically interested, all I could learn is that there are deals made by leaders in the organization that are complex, multifaceted and represent traded “favors” for future political influence. Can politics be an experience that requires some whispering, well I suppose it is true because people not completely versed in an issue and willing to ask questions until they are, can take a little bit of information and unravel potentially beneficial agreements by mischaracterizing that which they have heard. However, some teachers’ associations have gone far beyond deep and complex discussions and strategies and into full power plays for political control. Such power plays prevent the very debate which is the lifeblood of a democracy and which is ultimately the benefit that members of teacher associations deserve.
Soooo… what is the plan? We have to develop a cohesive national plan to own the narrative. And educators need to get active. I also participate in everything and constantly speak and inform others about the issues.
We need to learn some lessons from the tparty and score candidates and lawmakers. We need to publish these scores so educators know how to vote. We need to attend every political event, get involved, work the parties from within. We need to copy the strategies of successful grassroots groups (e.g, MADD) Do we have a speaker’s bank.
But what is our plan…. Do we have a planning group?
ACT-UP created major, long-term changes to the health care system, the drug approval process, and research funding and protocols. All of this was accomplished despite a majority of people saying that disruption would do more harm than good and that they must work within the confines of the existing system. Don’t make waves! We’re already despised by most people! Accept that what is will not change except incrementally and over time! Work with them, not against them, and they will eventually see the light! etc. etc.
Sound familiar? Thankfully the cautious voices were ignored and a small group making a very loud demand for change created that change in a very short time after years of stonewalling and being ignored.
Many people got arrested. Some got beaten up. They were vilified in the press and by their own community. They developed a reputation of fearlessness and rapid response actions.
A small group got very angry and disrupted the powers that be believing there was nothing left to lose. It worked. They stopped traffic. They interrupted the NYSE. They infiltrated meetings. They hung huge banners. They blew whistles. They pointed fingers and shouted “shame!” at politicians. They occupied all over Washington DC, NYC, Atlanta, etc. They created a simple slogan: Silence = Death, and a simple symbol, a pink triangle to remind themselves and everyone else that the community had faced persecution and extermination in Germany during WWII when they were made to wear pink triangles in the concentration camps.
ACT-UP saved many, many people and changed the way the community was perceived, no longer accepting being ignored and dismissed.
I don’t know if teachers have that kind of fire in their bellies but I hope at least a few do. We need to fight for our kids, our jobs, our country, and our future.
Badass teachers may be trying to take on this role and I am following them to see if the can create a national platform. The state group seems to have a bunch of tparty folks posting so I have been reluctant to be too vocal there. They use real names and this could be a problem in my very conservative state. Right now I am just working through our education associations and one political party, trying to find folks. I would love to chat with you outside this blog.
Sandra, I am leary of the Badass Teachers. I’ve had too many people I respect tell horror stories of being “banned” from their website and being treated like aliens for not towing the party line. I have no time for organizations like that. I have to be careful too. I live in a very conservative district and I already have a target on my back for being a “teacher leader” who asks “why?” and can cite research that debunks the reforms forced upon us and I work in an “F” school, LOL.
One foot in the grave, so to speak.
We need to figure out a way and a place for people who are interested in fighting back to meet. Not a public spectacle with “famous” speakers but an informal, safe place to network, discuss ideas, and share stories.
I’m willing to work on that with anyone who is interested.
Baloney. The ones who get booted are the ones who toe the line of the privatizers.
It is NOT full of tea party types. Stop lying.
This is from Sandra.
I am in.
This administration hates teacher’s unions too.
Listen, they won’t be happy until everyone is living on subsistence wages. And if you think Obama isn’t on board with that, you’re a fool.
Obama has always been a fake Democrat put in there to kill the party and all of its constituencies from within.
HE is the biggest problem and why public education is on the ropes.
I cannot speak for all teacher unions, but at the very least, the AFT, NEA, and UFT are doomed because all the while they have been acting upon the invitations to dinner from the reformers, little did they know or want to know that THEY were on the menu . . . . . .
So, yes, they are doomed and deserve to be. They take our money and dues and throw us under the bus in return. They structure themselves such that they maintain power without the popular voice or vote of their constitutents.
Just ask the Unity causcus of the AFT and their infamous Unity Oath. . . . .
Randi, are you listening?
Our union leadership, aka Randi Weingarten, is not doing shit for teachers if the latest edition of American Educator is any indication. The two articles I have read thus far are shameless apologies for Common Core. One of my colleagues just shared with me her evaluation from an out of state peer validator. I felt like I was getting dizzy reading it. She was held accountable for things totally beyond her control. Where are the movements for Wall Street accountability? Is anybody being held accountable for two disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Has someone
sorted out what happened in Benghazi and who was responsible? Are the extremely whealthy accountable for paying taxes to provide a minimal standard of living for the have nots from whom they have stolen the bulk of their winnings? I am a teacher and I am accountable 24/7 for my actions. What about the rest of you?
TAGO!
Yes, Diane. But I sat on a public committee two nights ago and asked LA School board member Steve Zimmer if we can count on him to have this debate about the two different views of public education in LA, the 2nd largest school district in the country and he said No.
Meaning what? That he wants to avoid the topic of tenure because he does not believe in tenure or because he does believe in it?
I am not understanding Mr. Zimmer’s motivation here as reported out by you.
Please clarify, Karen.
Thanks,
Robert Rendo
“It is futile to resist.” Well that would be the message of the Privatization = Austerity Crowd, wouldn’t it? They been chanting this mantra all over Greece, Portugal, Spain, Mexico and beyond but good teachers did not hum along. Teachers aren’t going to lay down for leaders who can’t hold their own with a talking heads schoolyard bully on CNN or any other functionary. Sell out the rank and file and your stinky stench will get you labeled as outdated. We will create NEW formulations for creative work in democratically-inspired public schools because that is the life-giving future.