Why are teachers' unions afraid of some good old fashioned competition?

Question

They insist they are the best and the brightest, wouldn't people like that thrive on the challenge of some competition from the private sector?

just hanging out... good answer. I am an ardent supporter of school choice and vouchers for those who want to escape failing government schools. I think it's cruel to force good kids to attend a busted out place with entitled union hacks who will do nothing for them if not set them back.

Answer 1

This may sound like a radical or even heretical idea. I think the main problem lies in the "mandatory" aspect of public education. I was an honor roll student. It was easy for me and my teachers had little to do with my supposed academic success. I didn't feel that I had succeeded. I knew I was working far under my potential. I disliked every minute I spent in school because I knew I was forced to attend by law. I won't be "forced" to do anything.

If schooling were something children had to earn; if they knew that they could be tossed out for failing; and if they weren't under a legal compulsion to be there; I believe that much of the problems we see today would simply cease to exist.

Answer 2

Tompink had a pretty good answer, so I will try not to duplicate those efforts.

But by the look of it, most of your answerers really don't like teachers, or education, or both? And perhaps you don't either?

Well, I've taught high school math for 5 years now. I doubt it will be the occupation I retire from. I plan on going into the IT industry so that I can actually pay for our house, meals, etc. And I don't belong to any union...a lot of people jumped on that bandwagon.

Here is my philosophy: I'm not scared of competition...probably the unions are. The unions look out for teachers. They can't in private schools. In many school districts, bad teachers continue to teach. And it's hard to flush them. I know that.

I'm not a big Bush fan, but I think NCLB is a decent idea. What it does is force the public schools to pick up the pace, or they face restructuring. That goes to the heart of what you were saying...I believe. If the administrators want to keep their jobs, the teachers better perform. That is happening across the country, more or less.

The problem with private schools is that they are too expensive for the majority of students. So either the government will have to give handouts, or it's just the rich kids going, which is pretty much the way it is now. There's exceptions of course, but not many.

Let me try to sum up the main problem with teaching. I honestly think if you can find a way to fix this, you will keep the good teachers (they mostly leave teaching within 5 years), and provide a better education.

In the public schools, we have to deal with EVERY single kid. Private schools pick and choose. Most of those kids are great, but there is a decent minority that make life hell for everyone. Teachers, administrators, and schools have lost the "right" to discipline slowly over the years. These days kids can get away with a lot, and often their punishments are actually nice, such as OOS.

If all I had to do was teach children who wanted to be there, who wanted to learn, life would be a joy. But it's not like that. 90% of the children are a pain in the butt, 5% are great, and the other 5% are the future criminals of America.

What we need to do is get these kids that don't like the structured environment of school, and put them in work programs, 6 am to 6 pm. Digging ditches, whatever. Get them good and tired. Then send them to night school where they receive the basics...nothing fancy. They will be too tired to cause trouble.

And the kids during the day will be motivated to learn...to keep them out of that kind of thing. That's my greatest dream, to have a classroom filled with inquiring young minds.

Then good teachers stay, your concerns are addressed because every public school will be an ideal situation...but private schools exist, they should exist, and anybody who wants to go there should be able to.

Answer 3

Here are some things about that:
1. There is competition, but private schools usually pay less, so teachers with higher degrees go teach where the pay is better.
2. Then the private schools charge more for the students, and can pick and choose who they admit, so they don't have to deal with a lot of vandals, riff-raff, and out of control kids that the public schools have to accept.
3. Teachers in public schools are nitpicked and nitpicked about so much nonsense and work in dangerrous and filthy environments. Some of the kids we deal with are defiant and don't give a flip, then parents, whose "sweet little angels" would never do any wrong, blame us for ALL their children's shortcomings, even though school is very part time in their lives.
4. Teachers unions are the only ones that are there for us teachers. They mainly negotiate for a livable salary, so people will still want to teach.
5. In some areas they have such a shortage that they recruit overseas like in Philippines, India, Canada, etc.

So there is competition; even in the county where I teach, there are charter schools that open up. Some a re good and some no better. I hear they drive teachers crazy there by requiring a 3 page form to be filled out every time a child hiccups, so they drive away many teachers with a brain.

Some folks think that anybody who can read the Bible can teach school, so they home school or go to a church school, but one of the great things about public schools is that it is also experience with society, not just with people in your own circle, so you learn how to deal with people. The quality is diluted in a lot of schools because we have to teach so many students with a lack of resources, but the kids that go to school in a more sheltered environment come out anddon't know how to deal with all kinds of people as well.
Still, the Main place for education is at home. No matter what anyone says, school is only part time, and the parents need to spend lots of time reading with their children and supplementing even the best schools' education.

You just want to bully a traditionally female ( or weak) profession. So go after the nurses next, then the maids. I'm sure you'll feel tough then.

Answer 4

Because without unions the bad teachers would be fired. The second grade teacher for my son could not speak english correctly. We found out after the school year that she had had many complaints in the past including slapping a child in the face and falling asleep at her desk while students worked at their desk. She was chronically late in the morning and her defense when several parents complained in her presence was that they were racist.

If this were a non-union job, she would be long gone. I'm sure she will retire many years from now with a pension. When will we learn?

Answer 5

This is a can of worms. What is needed is a standardized core curriculum for all students, a standardized teaching method,the ability to move upwards quicker for bright students,completion of a module before moving on to the next. I could go on and on but of course it´s basically useless because few people will listen.

Answer 6

Thanks to unions, it is nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to make a new law that would have made it easier to fire teachers. The teachers unions then spent millions of dollars on TV commercials to get voters to vote against the new law. In my opinion, the commercials decieved voters into thinking the new law was about something else.

Teachers unions also spent money campaigning against laws cracking down on illegal immigration. Teachers unions see illegal immigration as a way to create more teaching jobs. They don't care that it costs taxpayers more money.

Answer 7

Private education has been around for 100's of years...is there a point to the question?

Answer 8

Its called the race to the bottom. Find someone who can do it cheaper. Take it to its logical conclusion, not only will public education be dead and gone, but nobody will be making any money except the fat cats on the top. Whats wrong with having professional teachers? Whats wrong with paying them a good wage and giving them health benefits and a decent retirement? Do you really want this country to end up with people starving to death in the streets like in Bangladesh? How would you propose to stop that from happening if everybody is racing to give up pay and benefits? Maybe somebody should replace you with a machine. Have a little perspective, have a little human mercy because you might be the next one to get phased out.

Answer 9

Because it has been a cozy ride for them and it will force them to earn it like us in the private sector have to.

Answer 10

They want a lot of money for doing a lousy job.