Teachers
Unions
If I was a teacher I would like to have the job security
provided by the teacher's union. The protection it offers appears to be ideal
from the teacher's standpoint. They are part of a unified body that can
negotiate their demands. The educators enjoy the benefits of tenure, rubber
rooms, and only under extreme instances do they get fired.
Regardless of whether you are considered a bad teacher or a
good teacher you receive the same pay rate. The bad teacher faces no
consequences because he/she is protected by the union. For this reason I
support the motion of having a teacher's performance measured by his/her students
standardized test scores. But I also feel the teacher's salary should not be
the factor motivating how well that teacher decides to educate his/her
students.
After watching the movie and reading the article I think the
teacher's union is ridiculous. I can see why the people in Chicago are so upset
about the recent strike. How can the teachers justify keeping kids out of
school because they decided to strike? I understand fighting for improvements
but at the expense of the students is unacceptable.
Instead of being a support platform for its members the union
has become a menace to education. The focus has shifted from what’s best for
the students to what’s best for the teachers. The students deserve all the attention;
they are the key to improving our nation.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are taking a stance here! Defending your position is what academic writing is all about.
I would like to get you thinking about this a little more. Teacher unions often fight unfair evaluation. For example, a teacher is evaluated by the principal of the school, but let's say that the principal is sexist and gives women worse evaluations just because of his bias. Without the union contract, women would be fired more than men because of this one evaluator. Test scores can be a helpful measure, but what if the teacher happens to have a class where 40% of students have learning disabilities? There is no way to make that fair in a sense.
So is it worse teachers can't get fired for poor student performance? Or that teachers could get fired for reasons beyond their control?
Food for thought! And possible a paper!
Eileen