Yes, I’ve seen not-that-great teachers get a pass as well. Most of them were little cutie pies right out of school who had the chairman wrapped around their finger. Others were veteran lickspittles for whom we offered to buy some brown lipstick. Since everyone is paying equal union dues, everyone gets equal protection—not-that-great teachers and really great ones. Otherwise, you would have a legitimate complaint that not-that-great teachers and great teachers should pay different amounts of dues, right? It is the job of unions to protect their dues-paying members, not to judge them. There are far too many vindictive and outright dishonest administrators to do that.
I’d like to see a system that allows for good teachers to stay in the classroom and poor ones to be fired. I have a problem with ANY organization which promotes the same type of “shuffle them around if they aren’t good but don’t fire them no matter what” MO that we see on the federal employee levels everywhere. I hate that poor teachers often get moved into administration rather than “let go”. If they cannot teach they have no business making decisions which affect what happens in a classroom because academics is clearly not their forte. Private school teachers do not pay union dues, do not get that level of protection and are dismissed if they are not qualified. It’s one of the reasons that private schools succeed where public ones cannot. Not the only reason, mind you — but yes, it’s part of the equation.