When originally created, teacher unions were a noble cause meant to prevent teachers from being taken advantage of. Fight from the beginning, teachers unions and schools have been in conflict over several issues. Now though, as a result schools’ eagerness to cut costs, along with the union’s unwillingness to allow teachers to be fired, the student is becoming collateral damage. This conflict that exists between the teachers unions and school administration must be resolved through mediation, focus on students, and stronger laws to prevent teachers suing districts. At one point, America had schools that it was proud of. There are many areas where teachers and school unions will likely never see eye to eye; the school districts place the …show more content…
Out of these two viewpoints, there results a conflict where many things that protect teachers, are not in the best interest of the student. For a teacher who had been found “[showing] the R-rated ‘silence of the lambs’ to his underage students according to state department of education records…. He let them play pingpong in his classroom and kick balls in the hallway. He often allowed his students to wander the school, stste officials charged. Even students who weren’t in his class would come to him for a hall pass. Once, when a student asked sbout a historical figure, Moyer responded that the person was ‘some [expletive] in history.’ He told one boy to drop a pencil on the floor and ask a girl to pick it up so he could see her breasts when she leaned over.” Yet, when this teacher was finally put on trial “it would take nine years and dozens of documents before the state removed the Lehigh county teacher’s license…..” The unions still extend legal representation to protect teachers like Mr. Moyer. It’s clear that contradictory to the goal of the union, they in fact do offer their legal services to any teacher that belongs to the union. Michelle Rhee, when offering the policy of bonuses for forgoing tenure, the unions would not allow that policy. If the teachers unions stayed true to their ideal that they protect only beneficial teachers, Rhee’s program would be extremely beneficial to the members of the union. The fact that the unions did not accept this offer reveals that not only do the teachers unions protect incompetent teachers, but they are in realization of this simple fact. When you consider the two of these cases, it is evident that the teacher unions may claim that their priorities factor the student and the teacher, the unions in actuality focus primarily upon the
Teacher Unions are one source of controversy in Education because of how it seems that Teacher Unions have allowed poor performing teachers to remain. In “The Teacher Wars”, it articulates, “Teacher Union movement was (and remains today) a pragmatic, even sometimes
He also argues that without tenure it would to be easier to fire the 10 percent of teachers that are poor performers. I personally agree with Matthew Miller’s proposal.
From the reading “Ethical and Legal Issues in U.S. Education”, there were three points that that surprised me. One point was that it is so surprising to me that there are so many steps that a teacher, on tenure, must go through before they get fired. It makes it so difficult to be fired and such a long process that they will never be fired unless they commit a major crime and I believe that this should change. As a teacher, we need to be at the top of our game at all times, and teachers with tenure seem like they do not always have to in order to keep their job. It is also surprising to me that student teachers do not receive the same rights as normal teachers in some states. Student teachers are practicing to become a teacher one day, and
While many of the laws and regulations that arose out of the labor movement protect workers and define employer’s responsibilities, there has been significant pressure from employers to ensure that their organization does not organize. Dias (2009) states that “most organizations feel the constraints of having a union organization are too great”; negatively affecting the organization’s cost of operation and efficiency (p. 278). In response to the organizational desire to remain union free, Human Resource Managers (HRM) have an important role to play in regards to employee relations within organizations (Dias, 2009). Dias (2009), identifies three phases of unionization, the first is the “organization is union free and there is little to now interest in unionizing” (p.
At the beginning of school days in September 2015, teachers in Seattle public schools went on strike. It is the second time that teachers have gone on strike in the U.S. in recent years since 2012, when Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) was negotiating for a new contract that improves teachers’ salaries, and evaluates teachers’ performance fairly. CTU has reached an agreement after a long negotiation period with the city. The pattern and goal of the Seattle teachers strike matched perfectly with what had happened in Chicago. Teachers in Seattle also went on strike because they were not satisfied with their contract.
As mentioned the authors did argue some strong logical points. One of their strongest points just might be when they mentioned how tenure should be replaced with multiyear contracts. “Professors who possess it have no reason to improve their teaching, take on introductory courses, or, in fact, accept any tasks, not to their liking.” (Hacker and Dreifus 181). Some might argue better yet some will argue that “if he/she has been teaching a long time then they deserve to be granted tenure”, but wouldn’t it be better for our future and our children’s future if those who continues to teach well
Kowal, Julie, Joe Ableidinger, and Bryan C. Hassel. "Tenure Reform Options in K–12." By Emily Hassel. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Teacher Tenure Reform. Public Impact. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. .
Teacher tenure. What does this word mean? In many's eyes, tenure is seen as an unfair advantage to teachers and a cruel rule to students. However, according to teacherunion.com, “tenure is the practice of guaranteeing a teacher their job.” Typically, all teachers earn this privilege through quantity, and not by quality. Just a few years after starting to teach, they are granted tenure. And because of Teacher’s Union, it is almost impossible to break a teacher (i.e. a bad teacher) from this rule.
Organized labor, during the period from 1875-1900, had drastic effects on the lives of factory workers. Labor unions not only sought to improve working conditions; they wanted to have a large impact on society as a whole as well. These unions also altered feelings toward organized labor.
Today schools are changing to integrate the 21st century. Therefore, it is imperative that educational administrators are aware of the legal framework facing the issues in schools. There are many issues the administrators will face and they must know the constitutional rights of individuals and the school. The Constitution contains the laws of the United States.
Labor unions have been in America for a very long time. There are many unions in a myriad of different fields. Labor unions were and are used to allow for equal treatment of workers. Employers always want to maximize their profits and they try to give the least to get the most in return. For reasons such as this is why unions were formed. Generally a union boss is appointed or hired to protect the rights and privileges of the employees. The union boss is generally very representative of the demographics of the workers. The leader of the employees needs to know what they want and what is fair for them and this is why he tends to represent one type of work force, such as the teachers union. This type of representation is made easier when most of the workers come from the same background. Background meaning family size, education, race, etc. Labor unions have helped shape the American work force, as have the backgrounds of the men and women who have worked in them. America was founded on diversity and the freedom to choose. Many different backgrounds have found their way into America and labor unions. As stated earlier, labor unions have people of the same background in them. America’s first settlers were generally of the same background and because of that, so were the members of the first labor unions. As the United States expanded so did the work force and the diversity in it. Diversity and understanding the challenges and benefits is what enables America to be great. In the pages of this paper we are going to look at the change in the make-up of labor unions by the entrance of African-Americans and how they have influenced America and the labor unions for the better. This paper is and expansions on my paper “A Shield Against the Power of Industrial Capitalism”.
The ethical issue in this situation is the willingness of the company’s director to prevent the employees from organizing in union. Among others, the company’s director try to use unfair tactic like diversion, intimidation, manipulation, termination of job contract and threat to shut down the company leading to massive loss of job. In an ethical standpoint, these tactics are wrong.
The Chicago Public School District is the third largest school district in the United States educating around 400,000 students. Back in 1987 CPS was named “the worst in the nation”(). Moving its way up to the top, since then, CPS had completely rebuilt its structure, appointing leaders and reformed ideas. Now, with a deficit projected to be around $1 billion CPS is headed back in a downwards path, money being the biggest issue. The United States Federal Government already has financial issues of its own, which makes dealing with a CPS budget a problem within a problem. CPS, with a $6.6 billion FY2013 budget, is now taking a new strategy based upon a flawed “Student-Based Budgeting System”. The Board of Education is also struggling to solve the debt they have reached, and with their FY2014 plans this year’s budget book is argued to be “one of the most poorly written budgets”(). The way CPS is handling their budget is not benefiting the lives and education of students and is leaving CPS at a loss with giant financial issues.
Unions have an extensive history of standing up for workers. They have advocated rights of steelworkers, coal miners, clothing factory employees, teachers, health care workers, and many others. The labor movement is based on the idea that organized workers as a group have more power than individuals would have on their own. The key purpose of any union is to negotiate contracts, making sure workers are respected and fairly compensated for their work. “In theory” unions are democratic organizations, resulting in varying inner authority. Workers look for security within a job a...
As you can see the school board handles many issues from budgets, to tenure, to performance scores, to conferences. Although this paper did not cover everything in the meeting, it summarized what took place, and what affects it would have on teachers. The decisions made no matter how big or small can influence how and what task a teacher performs. The school board meeting was interesting because you are able to see how the changes could affect you personally.