I recently read an opinion/book review in the Wall Street Journal about "Liberating Learning" by Terry Moe and John Chubb. In that article, WSJ refers to a prior work by the same authors.
In response to "A Nation at Risk," Terry Moe and John Chubb in 1990 published "Politics, Markets and America's Schools," which identified special-interest groups -- mainly teachers unions -- as the culprits in preventing the reforms urged in the report.
Teacher unions do, in fact, have a giant political lobby at all levels of government. One example of the effectiveness of that lobby is the ability of teacher unions to stop efforts for teacher merit pay. And, one of the central aspects of unionism is the protection of their membership. Teachers unions generally believe in policing their own ranks. The lobbying effect of teacher unions is indeed strong. That being said, here are my views on this dilemma;
- Blaming teachers alone for the inability of many American students to compete globally ignores the larger societal forces at work here. The students are a product of the environment from which they come, and even the best teachers will have limited impact.
- Teacher union lobbies are simply leveraging their power. That is being allowed at a systemic level. Don't blame teacher unions for utilizing a flawed system; instead, blame the system that allows it.
- See my post, A Forest View. The answers are in asking the right question, "Why do teacher unions have such power?" The bureaucracy and big government....therein lies the right question.
As with many of the issues facing the world today, the answer to this dilemma is systemic.
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