Category
Terry Moe on Teacher Union Power
Terry Moe talks with Eric Hanushek about his recent book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools.
Unions and the Public Interest
Is collective bargaining for teachers good for students?
Is collective bargaining for teachers good for students?
Rhode Island’s Landmark Pension Reform
Last night, by overwhelming margins, the Rhode Island legislature passed what may be the nation’s most comprehensive state public employee pension reform ever.
A Different Role for Teachers Unions
Cooperation brings high scores in Canada and Finland
Cooperation brings high scores in Canada and Finland
The Army of Angry Teachers — When Success Breeds Failure
The unions succeed by intimidating politicians with their raw power while convincing the public that teacher unions love their children almost as much as the parents do. But when the public face of the teacher unions is the Army of Angry Teachers, they no longer seem like Mary Poppins.
Moe v. Meier on Teacher Unions
Two key fault lines ran through the lively panel discussion of Terry Moe’s new book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools. One was the notion of “reform unionism” and professional voice. The second was how to judge whether schools or teachers were doing well.
The New Unionism, Legislative Version
The unions can try to rebuild their image (while doing good for America) by actively participating in efforts to figure out how to evaluate teachers and how schools can make personnel decisions based on those evaluations.
What Would Al Shanker Do?
One of the reasons Candidate Obama was so appealing was his call for participants in our democracy to “disagree without being disagreeable.”
The NEA Girds for Battle
A brilliant report from Mike Antonucci at the Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) paints a dark picture of what the recent public union defeats in Wisconsin and elsewhere mean to the National Education Association.
Teachers Unions Here and There
I don’t always agree with Marc Tucker but he knows a heckuva lot about how other countries organize their education systems; and it turns out that knowledge extends to how their teacher unions have evolved, what roles the unions play, and how their bargaining processes work. The differences set forth in his exceptionally interesting new [...]
Invisible Ink in Teacher Contracts
State policy trumps collective bargaining
State policy trumps collective bargaining
The Long Reach of Teachers Unions
Using money to win friends and influence policy
Using money to win friends and influence policy
News from Florida: Can teacher unions become a third political party?
Governor Crist has vetoed the merit pay bill as part of his plan to run as a third party candidate for the open Senate seat in Florida. What’s interesting about the latest development is Crist’s decision to form an alliance with teacher unions. Unions are typically hard-line Democrats; are they now ready to abandon a long-standing relationship in order to provide the financial backbone of the Crist campaign?
Same Old, Same Old
New union leadership does not change a thing
New union leadership does not change a thing
Teacher Retirement Benefits
Even in economically tough times, costs are higher than ever.
Even in economically tough times, costs are higher than ever.
Poor Schools or Poor Kids?
To some, fixing education means taking on poverty and health care
To some, fixing education means taking on poverty and health care
D.C.’s Braveheart
Can Michelle Rhee wrest control of the D.C. school system from decades of failure?
Can Michelle Rhee wrest control of the D.C. school system from decades of failure?
Golden Handcuffs
Teachers who change jobs or move pay a high price
Teachers who change jobs or move pay a high price
Charter Schools, Unions, and Linking Teachers with Student Achievement Data
Podcast: Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. discuss the week’s education news, including an announcement that a charter school in Massachusetts has signed a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers, an agreement that includes merit pay.
Voting Down Vouchers
Lessons learned from Utah
Lessons learned from Utah
Reform or Be Reformed
A new agenda for the teacher unions
A new agenda for the teacher unions
A Union by Any Other Name
The NEA and AFT will promote reforms-but only those that serve teachers interests
The NEA and AFT will promote reforms-but only those that serve teachers interests
Identity Crisis
Can teacher unions really promote reform?
Can teacher unions really promote reform?
Philosopher or King?
Shanker sought to transform teacher unions into a powerful voice for education reform, proposing ideas that were unconventional for a union president.
Shanker sought to transform teacher unions into a powerful voice for education reform, proposing ideas that were unconventional for a union president.
Teachers Unions
The good, the bad, and the ugly
The Worm in the Apple: How the Teacher Unions Are Destroying American Education by Peter Brimelow HarperCollins, 2003, $24.95; 320 pages. As reviewed by George Mitchell Peter Brimelow aims high. In The Worm in the Apple, he seeks to emulate The History of Standard Oil, the legendary effort by Ida Tarbell that helped to usher [...]

