That was the debate topic a couple weeks ago, with Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, et. al., on one side, and Dr. Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education, on the other--working side by side with Larry Sand, President of the California Teachers Empowerment Network.
PRE-DEBATE VOTE:
FOR: 24%
AGAINST: 43%
UNDECIDED: 33%
POST-DEBATE VOTE:
FOR: 25%
AGAINST:68%
UNDECIDED: 7%
While Paige, Sand, and Moe were clear to point out that teachers unions were not the only problem in public education, it's just as clear that they were able to sway a large percentage of the undecided vote that the teachers unions bear some of the responsibility.
You can watch the debate here.
Our local teachers union just held "town halls" at a number of the schools, with the topic being: How do we improve our schools?
ReplyDeleteI asked our school union rep if transcripts would be made available to the public. The response was that a final report (not transcripts) would be made available.
I'm guessing that if something like "fire bad teachers" was a common theme, it probably will not make it into the union's final report (or it will be downplayed). I don't trust anything they say at this point.