A recent article that appeared in the NJEA Review, the
magazine of the New Jersey Education Association, attempted to establish a
correlation between student achievement and strong union membership. The
article, written by Kathryn Coulibaly, an associate direfcto4r of public
relations for the teachers association noted that nine of the top ten states
for student performance were in places that were highly unionized. Those states
were Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota,
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Colorado. The only state that was a non- unionized workplace
(A “Right to Work” state) was Virginia. It should also be noted tat most of the
successful states were located in the Northeast United States.
The author believed that states with a string union presence
were more likely to be advocates for students and would champion school equity
in funding schemes. Dedicated teachers/slash union members would fight against
privatization, a policy many believe is detrimental to the education process.
It should be pointed out that this article was written
before the recent US Supreme Court ruling regarding agency fees, which when
enacted, require non- union members to pay a fee to the unions who provide
collective bargaining for all teachers.
I had a difficult time in digesting this information. When
I was teaching an introductory class in teacher education, one of text topics
was about whether teaching was a white collar or blue-collar profession. Union
membership, as opposed to professional association membership (Like the American
Medical Association) tended to lessen the status of teachers. One need look no
further than what Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has done to public employees,
especially teachers, to see the highs and lows of union membership and its impact in schools.
If you can get a hold of this article, read it. I look forward
to your comments.
(See New Jersey Education Review- April 2016 issue. (pp.21-25)
c. 2016 J. Margolis
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