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I'm no great fan of unions in general but teaching unions do provide important advice, support and representation to teachers. There have been enough cases of t
by andrew1 17y ago
I'm no great fan of unions in general but teaching unions do provide important advice, support and representation to teachers. There have been enough cases of teachers being wrongly sacked over false claims by children of abuse etc. that I can understand teachers wanting to belong to an organisation which will help defend them if they're ever in that situation. You could argue that that could happen in any profession - I could be wrongly accused of stealing from the office I work in - but child abuse is a more sensitive issue than most and schools can feel pressured to appear to be 'protecting children' and perhaps more cynically to not want to take the risk of a repeat incident bringing more bad publicity.
- philk 17y agoIt's a fair point but unfortunately the unions have greatly overstepped defending teachers against wrongful allegations and moved into advancing teachers rights at the expense of students. The following article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teachers3-2009may03,0,5765040,full.story http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teachers3-2009may03,... contains a few examples of just how hard it can be to fire a bad teacher, including one who mocked a student's suicide attempt to the rest of the class yet was reinstated in his job. Additionally, a bad teacher will potentially damage the futures of hundreds of students throughout their career; because of the high cost I'd say that erring on the side of dismissal is worth the risk.
- roc 17y agoAs with most every human organizational construct: They were created for good reason and have done good things, but are inevitably perverted over time.