On April 1, 2016, members of the Chicago Teachers Union plan to walk off from their jobs in what they are calling a “day of action.” The members of the union are hoping that the walk-off will help the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois recognize the need for greater education funding. Labor conditions have become unbearable for these Chicago teachers to handle. Due to lack of funding to the school system, there have been school closures, budget cuts, and teachers have even been asked to take three unpaid days off in attempts for the district to save approximately $30 million. The Chicago Teachers Union protestors are hoping that their walk-off will result in higher funding for the school system, which will help re-build the education system in the city …show more content…
I also have a mother who is a teacher and belongs to a teacher’s union. From both of my parents, I have seen first-hand the good, the bad, and the ugly of unions in the public sector. From my mother, I have learned that she, along with every other teacher, would not have the benefits and the pay she has now, had it not been for the union fighting for those benefits and wages. I have witnessed that teachers get more and more work thrown on them, have more and more added to their plates, yet receive no compensation for the additional work required of them. Without the teacher’s union, the teachers have no voice and no one to fight for their benefits or their wages. While I have been witness to how important and helpful unions are to teachers, I have also learned how corrupt the unions have become from my father’s time as a union rep. Unions were created to help bring balance and equality, however, unions tend to over-compensate superiors, while under-compensating the smaller, hard-working people who tend to put in much more time and effort into their jobs.
All-in-all, I would say my opinion is this: if unions were actually what they were
on the requirement that all California state teachers pay union dues even if the teacher is not part
The text that the writer presented to the public does demonstrate that the Chicago Board of Education may have utilized unfair practices to satisfy a certain group of individuals. As Mr. Matthews stated in the text “About 80 percent of National Teachers Academy students are raised in low-income households, compared to a 29 percent low-income rate at nearby South Loop Elementary. Many National Teachers Academy parents say that CPS' decision to invest in one neighborhood elementary school and close theirs is a classist one. The new South Loop Elementary School will cost more than $60 million to build.” The author used the text to demonstrate some of the hidden issues involved with
Colorado is one of nine states in which local school boards have latitude and discretion regarding whether to recognize unions or other organizations as exclusive representatives of employee groups. Of Colorado’s 178 school districts, currently 39 are known to have one or more collective bargaining agreements. The industrial labor model is used in these 39 districts to negotiate education employee pay, benefits, and working conditions, in addition to various union perks and
In the early chapters of Special Interest Terry Moe spends much of his energy in attacking the power of the teacher unions. He claims that teachers unions are the heart of the problem when it comes to organization and reform (Moe, 2011, p. 20). While Moe claims the NEA (National Education Association) and the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) have historically lobbied against many reform programs, including voucher programs, charter schools, and merit pay programs, there is also evidence where teachers’ unions have supported new reforms. They have introduced new charter schools and have based salaries on merit pay programs. Former NEA president Bob Chase delivered a speech in 1997 claiming that the NEA was on the forefront of education reform. He stated that the NEA invested 70 million dollars on reform initiatives and sponsored six charter schools across the country (Chase, 1997, p. 372). Educational policy makers should be in particular interest to these examples especially if they believe in the effectiveness of reform programs. If policy makers understand the thinking behind why the unions support or oppose reforms, better policies can be put in place. In addition, policy makers in partnership with the teachers unions can work hand in hand to successfully coordinate reforms in American education.
The article “Why Do Teachers Earn So Little” (Money, Pages 41-44) discusses the rate of remuneration for service to the workforce and how economists suggests it is determined. In addition to, the frustration the author portrayed regarding that suggestion. It is written by Jared Bernstein, an economist, author of the book, “Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed?” and a former Chief Economic Advisor with the government. The summary, analysis, and evaluation of this article includes: the value of the work performed, differing wages for equal work, and the view of unions as villains seeking to undermine the economy.
There could be disruption in the school environment if no union was present, and some teachers fear, that a principal could quickly decide that a teacher no longer suits the school’s needs. The complete end to collective bargaining would “almost certainly mean more frequent walkouts and strikes”
Why do we need Chicago Teacher Unions? All they do is help the teachers create a contract and help them get paid a good sum of money. There are multiple reasons why we need Teacher Unions in multiple manners. The Chicago Teacher Union do not only help the teachers create contracts but protect not only the teachers but the students, from being taken advantage of by the Board of Education. Teacher Unions are an important step in a compromise for teachers’ rights and building safer conditions not only for them, but students as well through its access of striking together the support of other unions, and political action. Opponents believe that unions are bad because these organizations protect the workers that are not doing their job. Opponents
The most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement between San Luis Coastal Unified School District and the San Luis Coastal Teachers Association contains clauses that are of substantial benefit to the district, though some of the clauses included are not. A close analysis of the agreement reveals a wide variety of stakeholders with varying needs, from the school board and administrative personnel to all regular permanent and probationary certificated employees (full-time and part-time), including, but not limited to, counselors, librarians, resource teachers, etc. When negotiating, the district must take the needs of all stakeholders into account, and must find a way to work through the challenges that are present. Teacher associations
Facts: The majority of the teachers of the school district were members of the Chicago Teachers Union. Members’ dues were used to finance collective bargain and union administration. Non-members received the benefit of this financial effort. A policy was enacted to deduct dues for service from non-members. The non-members could object and there was a three-step process for review.
I was hoping that the union would organize and try to do something to get attention to the problems with this law. I feel you have done nothing to organize the workers' voices in Lansing. Instead of doing the business of a union, I see nothing but a fleecing of our membership going on in the form on endless solicitations from 3rd party vendors and an overpriced health care product in MESSA. I held out for four years hoping the MEA or even the NEA would gain some traction on the many that concern teachers and students but instead I see nothing but offers for loans and trumped up discounts for consumer garbage I can find anywhere for less. My last hope was some organization came with the fight over our pensions. What we got was a YouTube video explaining how we should resist. This poorly done video is not what I would call a mustering to arms against our profession. So yet again I saw the easy passage of another anti-teacher bill this summer with hardly a whisper from our collective voice. It is at this point I have decided I have had enough with this organization.
As you all know a union is an organized group of workers who work together to use their strength and have a voice in their workplace. Through a union, their strength as workers have a right to impact wages, work hours, benefits, workplace health and safety, job training and other work-related issues. (Professionals, 2015) Let’s talk about an important union which has helped many workers that become part of our lives as students. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is a labor union founded in Chicago, Illinois on April 15, 1916. (Teachers, 2015) This union mainly represents teachers and it started gaining its members by 1919 in which by that time it had 100 local affiliates and 11,000 members. (Teachers, 2015) The AFT is a union of professionals
The teachers union has been around for many years. The first union was founded in, “1857: The National Education Association (NEA) is founded in Philadelphia by 43 educators” (Mader, 2012). With a local school board in charge of a district’s education, teachers unions can have a greater ability to bargain, educate, and protect their members. School boards are there to help be an in-between for the tax payers and the schools.
They acknowledge the fact that even if the pay rate does that doesn’t guarantee the quality of their teaching of how effective they are as a teacher will improve. They also argue that public school teacher’s on average make $55,000 a year and receive another $55,000 in past or future benefits to come. They believe that teachers’ need to stop just passing them and start actually trying to produce higher level thinker’s and graduates before they ask for more money. Some people also speak on how public school teachers’ have fringe benefits, things like health care, vacation time and pensions are a lot more than some private sectors which in return makes the
Educators all across America are staging walkouts in protest of low wages and inadequate school funding. They are demanding state budgets that support public education spending and salaries that meet the national average. What started as a grass-roots movement in West Virginia has quickly spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona and Colorado, with other states threatening to follow suit unless their funding is increased. Teacher across the nation are making it clear that they will not stand for being disrespected and disregarded by politicians anymore.
California Teachers Association, , a suit brought by 10 non-union California teachers who say that making them pay “fair share fees” to a union, even if only for the reason of collective bargaining, requires them to support an organization they oppose politically, and this is a violation of their free speech rights. The Supreme Court adjudged to be affirmed opinion per curiam. The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court; which left the lower court ruling as the controlling final decision in which they sided with the union. on April 8 2016, a petition for rehearing was filed; on April 13 the Supreme Court has distributed the case for conference on April 29, 2016. An opposing ruling in Friedrichs could call for public unions to function in all 50 states as they do in the 25 right-to-work states that prohibit unions from collecting dues from non-members, even though those unions bargain collectively for members and non-members alike. Right-to-work legislation means a death of unions via the "free rider problem." The capability to be represented by a union for no cost has led to a rise in employees who obviously gain the benefits of the union without having to pay their fair share. Not only do unions lose the agency fees that help keep their doors open, but many workers who otherwise may have joined the union because of the often small difference in cost between agency fees and union dues simply decline to pay anything at