4 ms·

I’m a college teacher in a union. I don’t know much about what happens in k-12 but I do know my union is not responsible for our low pay in my system. What ev

I’m a college teacher in a union. I don’t know much about what happens in k-12 but I do know my union is not responsible for our low pay in my system. What evidence do you have for your claim? Police unions are far more powerful that public k-12 teacher unions.

G_z9 4y ago
In Washington the teachers union is the most powerful special interest group bar none
- MikeTheGreat 4y ago
  Citation?
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    Don't know anyone elected in WA state without the teachers' union endorsement. The police, on the other hand, got drastically defunded.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  In Washington, it is illegal for public school teachers to strike: https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/public-employee-strikes-illegal-in-washington https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/public-employee-stri... Yet they strike regularly with complete impunity. That's power.
  - syzarian 4y ago
    In my system what happens is a contract is negotiated for a period of time. During this period of time we agree to not strike. Once the contract ends we can strike. In 20 years in my system I have never experienced a situation in which a new contract was negotiated before the old contract ended. While we negotiate for a new contract, and after the old contract has expired, we can strike. Don’t know if things are different in Washington but I doubt there is a blanket ban, in all possible circumstances, on striking.
Jensson 4y ago
> Police unions are far more powerful that public k-12 teacher unions. There are about 5 teachers per police officer, so teachers unions should typically be much stronger than police unions.
- EngManagerIsMe 4y ago
  Sure, but a police officer has much (much) more power than 5 teachers. I can't remember the last time teachers benefited from qualified immunity or civil forfeiture.
  - Jensson 4y ago
    I have never heard people chant "Defund the schools" though, so it seems like teachers has much more political support and power overall. Qualified immunity isn't thanks to police unions, the supreme court decided that because they thought that policemen shouldn't risk go to jail just for doing their job, the police union didn't seem to have much involvement.
    - syzarian 4y ago
      They don’t chant “defund schools”. Instead the slogan is “school choice”. There has been a campaign for the last 50 years to erode public education.
      - Jensson 4y ago
        Are there no teachers in private schools?
        syzarian 4y ago
        We aren’t talking about private schools. We are talking about whether or not there is a chant similar to “defund the police” for public schools. The answer is yes there is.
    - CamperBob2 4y ago
Ferret7446 4y ago
I do not know what the other poster is referring to, but things like this are often indirect consequences. The unions may not be literally, directly suppressing wages, but their other policies may be strongly causing it. Across history, trying to "do good" by force/law/policy has caused a lot of negative side effects.

G_z9 4y ago

In Washington the teachers union is the most powerful special interest group bar none

MikeTheGreat 4y ago
Citation?
- WalterBright 4y ago
  Don't know anyone elected in WA state without the teachers' union endorsement. The police, on the other hand, got drastically defunded.
WalterBright 4y ago
In Washington, it is illegal for public school teachers to strike: https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/public-employee-strikes-illegal-in-washington https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/public-employee-stri... Yet they strike regularly with complete impunity. That's power.
- syzarian 4y ago
  In my system what happens is a contract is negotiated for a period of time. During this period of time we agree to not strike. Once the contract ends we can strike. In 20 years in my system I have never experienced a situation in which a new contract was negotiated before the old contract ended. While we negotiate for a new contract, and after the old contract has expired, we can strike. Don’t know if things are different in Washington but I doubt there is a blanket ban, in all possible circumstances, on striking.

Jensson 4y ago

> Police unions are far more powerful that public k-12 teacher unions. There are about 5 teachers per police officer, so teachers unions should typically be much stronger than police unions.

EngManagerIsMe 4y ago
Sure, but a police officer has much (much) more power than 5 teachers. I can't remember the last time teachers benefited from qualified immunity or civil forfeiture.
- Jensson 4y ago
  I have never heard people chant "Defund the schools" though, so it seems like teachers has much more political support and power overall. Qualified immunity isn't thanks to police unions, the supreme court decided that because they thought that policemen shouldn't risk go to jail just for doing their job, the police union didn't seem to have much involvement.
  - syzarian 4y ago
    They don’t chant “defund schools”. Instead the slogan is “school choice”. There has been a campaign for the last 50 years to erode public education.
    - Jensson 4y ago
      Are there no teachers in private schools?
      - syzarian 4y ago
        We aren’t talking about private schools. We are talking about whether or not there is a chant similar to “defund the police” for public schools. The answer is yes there is.
  - CamperBob2 4y ago

Ferret7446 4y ago

I do not know what the other poster is referring to, but things like this are often indirect consequences. The unions may not be literally, directly suppressing wages, but their other policies may be strongly causing it. Across history, trying to "do good" by force/law/policy has caused a lot of negative side effects.