> It doesn't, that's a myth. What hurts education is lack of funding for education.
The pay being the same between a good teacher and a bad teacher, doesn't hurt education? Or teachers unions pushing to get tenure preventing bad teachers from being fired, and being able to collect a pay slip for doing no work while waiting a year for disciplinary hearing?
teacher's unions are one of the few tools educators have to fight back against the chronic cuts to public education that have been occurring in America. this benefits students and educational facilities by helping get more state funding, helps keeps teacher pay at a more competitive level (hopefully keeping "good teachers" in their jobs), among other things
I think the points you raise are valid, but given what an abysmal state public education and unions in general are in America - I think the benefits of teacher unions greatly outweigh the costs
Thanks for the insights. Yeah you raise good points I hadn't considered. I admit I know very little, what I know is based on what people have told me (few friends living in the US) and watching the documentaries "Waiting for Superman", "College Conspiracy", and "Stupid in America".
> So it seems like unions protect the employee
Yes, that's the entire point of a union. It's about the employees, nothing else. collective bargaining. union is strength.
> that only hurts education
It doesn't, that's a myth. What hurts education is lack of funding for education.