This is a touchy and sore subject but it needs to be talked about. I sometimes talk about this subject with my wife, Lib-Gal, and we usually don’t really agree. I personally enjoy this but not for the reason you may think. I believe she has wonderful insight into the subject but I look at it differently. Unions, as of late, are getting a bad rep. Is this a good or bad thing; I say good. They need to be exposed and light shed on them even more. I understand unions single-handily built the middle class but what have they done for us lately? If unions are so great, what has happened to the educational system in the United States. Unions seem to be to overreaching in their efforts to stymie real education and growth. When I speak of growth I’m speaking of wasted monies spent on tenure. I believe it creates complacency, since we don’t have a measure of teacher effectiveness, why should they be privy to such a sweet deal. Look at New York, teachers who are up for disciplinary reasons or who are in search of other jobs but continue to get their full pay. Their average salary is $82,000 plus medical. Some have been collecting these benefits since 2006. My argument isn’t against teachers but the unions that serve them. In this instance they aren’t for the greater good, if they were why is the educational system failing so badly? Is it a conspiracy against us to fail? Think about it, the union remains strong because of union dues, and we all know money is king.

Take a look at both teacher unions: the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association; both spend a lot of money to lobby both political parties. Both unions protect bad teachers as well as negotiating bad contracts. As a child I looked up to teachers but today I let out a heavy sigh; both the good and the bad teachers are being lumped together. Teachers should be treated as professionals to do their job correctly. As with any job competitiveness is a must; the better the intensity, the harder the person works. Yes, teacher unions need to be broken, the model is old and antiquated with no hope for education reforms. In international competitiveness the U.S. is last in every category. The model need to be changed today, what worked fifty years ago may not now. Get unions out-of-the-way and allow for the real voices to lead. Allow principals to run schools more efficiently, right now they can’t fire bad teachers with tenure. I’m not an educator but I did attend school and college. I understand how the educational system works and I know ours is broken. On most blogs people rant, including myself(lol) but here are a few suggestions to improve things: technology, longer school year, charter schools, after-school tutoring, lessons designed individually for the student(technology), alternative schools. Notice churches have started to build schools with teachers with no formal educational background yet these schools are passing kids successfully on to the next level. I could suggest more, but I believe you get the gist of the conversation.

The NON-Conformist

“Not conforming since 1969”