Debate Desk
Do Teachers Unions Always Put Students First in Their Policies?
Teachers deserve respect and fair pay, but contracts that protect seniority over performance and slowed 2020 reopenings put adult interests first.
The claim
Unions say that what is good for teachers is good for students: stable, experienced teachers, reasonable class sizes and fair pay. They add that unions fight for resources, for safe schools and against budget cuts that harm children.
The answer in three points
- A union exists to serve its members, and that is a legitimate role. When members' interests align with students', the union is a partner. When they do not, such as in rules on seniority and tenure, the union's duty is to its members.
- Contract rules often work against students. Seniority-based layoffs keep the longest-serving teacher and let go of a better, newer one. Tenure rules make removal of a poor teacher slow and costly. A court in California heard the case against those rules in Vergara v. California (2014), though the ruling was reversed on appeal.
- The school closures of 2020 and 2021 showed the conflict. Districts where unions pushed to keep schools closed kept children out of class longer than others, and the learning losses were larger. Parents noticed.
Parents can read the contract their district has signed, attend school board meetings and ask which rules protect children and which protect adults. That scrutiny is the best protection a child has.
The numbers
- The Supreme Court held in Janus v. AFSCME (2018) that public employees cannot be forced to pay union fees as a condition of employment, by a vote of 5 to 4.
- The National Assessment of Educational Progress reported in 2022 historic declines in math scores for fourth and eighth graders.
- Vergara v. California (2014) was decided by a trial court that found California's teacher tenure and dismissal laws violated students' rights, before an appeals court reversed the ruling in 2016.
What they will say next
"Unions protect good teachers." Due process for teachers is worth protecting, and the due process need not take years or cost a district a fortune. Better systems judge performance fairly.
"Right-to-work laws attack teachers." Teachers have the right to join and pay dues, and the Supreme Court held they cannot be forced to pay. Voluntary membership holds a union accountable to members.
"Pay is low." In many places it is, which is why pay should reward effective teachers and not only seniority.
"Schools closed for safety." Many were closed longer than science warranted, and countries that reopened earlier saw less learning loss.
A teacher's calling is a noble one. Rules that serve the children are the ones that honor it.
"Teachers are demoralized and leaving the profession." Many are, and the causes include discipline problems, paperwork and mandates. Parents, administrators and good teachers share an interest in solving them. Rules that let schools reward the best teachers and remove the worst would help the profession keep the people it needs.