Rotherham, Hannaway: 5 myths about teachers unions

pioneer press ^ | 9-18-12 | Andrew J. Rotherham and Jane Hannaway

[TurboZamboni]

The Chicago teachers strike thrust teachers unions into the national spotlight. In Chicago and around the country, some see unions as saving public education and others as driving it into the ground. But the reality of how teachers unions operate is more complicated than the rhetoric about them.

1. Teachers unions are to blame for low test scores and high dropout rates.

Where the unions matter most in the education debate is in their influence on how teachers are supervised and evaluated, who is granted tenure, and who is dismissed. These have all been flash points in Chicago.

There is abundant evidence that school districts don't do enough to retain the best teachers or weed out the low performers. For instance, a 2009 report by the New Teacher Project found that 94 percent of teachers in Chicago received "superior" or "excellent" ratings, and just four in 1,000 were rated "unsatisfactory." Considering the poor performance of Chicago's schools, there's no way nearly all of its teachers are superlative. Clearly, the evaluation system is broken...

[Beagle8U]

This is how the teachers union scam on taxpayers works...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVyNlJUKgug

[TurboZamboni]

we need more “rage against the machine”

[Pontiac]

When the teachers unions protect education spending in state budgets, that's good for students.

There is a BS Flag down on the field.

Thirty years ago this statement may have been true but today in the vast majority of school districts, especially inner city districts like Chicago even deep cuts to school spending could be made with little if any impact on the student.