In a response to my post entitled Parental Presence a colleague of mine, CircumVentures, brought up the issue of teachers unions and how difficult it is for even unqualified or unsuccessful educators in the public school system to lose their job. As an individual who attended a private school, I was never exposed to teachers unions and, therefore, did not have a familiarity with what comes with membership in such organizations. After my colleague's comments on Parental Presence, and as a resident of California, I made the decision to educate myself on the California Teachers Association.
As has been pointed out to me, it is almost impossible for teachers who are members of unions, such as the CTA, to lose their jobs. A part of one's membership in CTA is that, if needed, teachers are provided with legal services, whether free services are provided or they are provided at a discounted fee. In addition to providing its members with legal counsel when necessary, the CTA works to improve working conditions within schools. Not only does the organization work to improve the working conditions of its members, but it also fights for higher salaries, more health benefits and more affordable retirement policies.
The California Teachers Association provides its more than 340,000 members with a great many benefits that they may not receive if they did not hold membership to such an organization. The CTA fights tirelessly to protect and advance both the professional and economic interests of its members. While I am able to recognize these benefits and the possibilities that there are others to being a member of the CTA, I am still not sure where I stand on teachers unions. As I stated, I understand and am thankful for all of the benefits provided by organizations such as the CTA, but I still do not know how I feel about the fact that even educators who have not been successful in the classroom not only retain their positions, but receive additional aid.
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This post has caused me to think of a few ideas on our ineffective process of public schools, and I was curious on the education expert's opinion about them.
ReplyDelete1) If all schools were privatized, the competition in the world of teachers would be higher
2)This would therefore cause the rewards of teachers to correspond to their classroom skills
3) This would incentivize becoming a good teacher and would make teaching an actual option for those who value making a lot of money.
4) The ratio of good to bad teachers would radically increase, as it is in the best interest of most parents and schools to hire better teachers
I was just curious about what you think about this thought process. Thanks!
What about tenure? With my experience in the California Public School System, I have had a number of incompetent teachers who constantly have people complaining about them, but because these teacher had already received their tenure, the school was unable to do anything about them. Is the fact that so many teachers are tenured why it's so difficult for new teachers to join the CTA (because those teachers that are terrible at their jobs are not able to be fired by the schools, and therefore new jobs aren't opening up)?
ReplyDeleteI agree that in privatizing all schools competition in the world of teaching would be higher, and there for the caliber of teachers would increase. However, I do not believe that this is a realistic goal, as the privatization of all schools would make it impossible for certain individuals to receive an education. As I stated, I do whole-heartedly agree that the quality of teachers would radically increase and that, in turn, the incentive to become not only a teacher, but a good teacher, would boom.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question of tenured teachers, this has nothing to do with membership into the CTA. There is no limit to the number of individuals who can be granted membership into the organization. However, in having both membership in the CTA and tenure at a school, firing incompetent teachers becomes incredibly difficult. In order to correct this problem, it is necessary for the development of some kind of program that provides incentives for teachers of a higher caliber.
I attended a public school in Minnesota before moving to a private university in Los Angeles, California. Speaking from experience, there were far more incompetent, job-loathing, negative, and/or boring teachers at my public school than my private school. The reasons for which can be debated, as was so in your post and above comments, but I think it boils down to "you get what you pay for." Public school was obviously free, but I got a lower quality faculty teaching me. I now pay for my education, and I have received much higher quality professionals and intellectuals teaching me.
ReplyDelete