At my school it’s called the “association.” In other places it’s called “the federation,” but most people know it as the “union.”
I have been a proud member of a teacher’s union ever since I started teaching, except for the one year when I was an assistant teacher (there isn’t a union for this group of educators). I never hesitated to join, I’ve always felt that my dues went to good use, and I able to be a better educator knowing that I have the support of my union. The backbone of American education are the teacher unions. The strong the union, the better the school. And yes, there are some teacher unions that are weak, and protect bad teachers. So, what? I love it when people use this argument to get rid of unions. We have mediocrity in every part of our culture, and we forgive it all of the time. Banks have exploited people over and over and led to the massive economic destruction. We still have banks.
Unions are why we have the work day, paid holidays, health care, and safe working conditions. The work of unions has directly affected the quality of life that so many American enjoys. Teacher unions are why children are in reasonable class sizes, enjoy adequate funding, and have effective teacher evaluation that lead better teaching. Yes, unions spend as much time, and sometimes more time advocating for quality of education for students as much as their paycheck.
Right now, unions are fighting to save the lives of students, staff members, teachers, and the families of all of these people. In some cities, it was the union which put their foot down and forced schools to close last March. Unions have been relentless over this summer advocating for our children’s education when too many Americans did nothing to stop the spread of Covid-19. In the past month, the coordination between the local, state and federal teacher associations to fight for the safety of schools has been remarkable. Unions have accomplished incredible things in the past month, and there is so much more work to be done.
There are massive failures in leadership right now. So many people don’t want to make hard decisions so they are waiting for someone else to so they don’t have to be the bad guy. Shutting down a state is a lot easier when you can point to your neighboring state shutting down first. You see this same cowardliness in college football, and it’s happening with school leadership as well. trump would rather say nothing, then make a hard decision. He would rather let people die then make an unpopular decision.
People are desperately searching for leadership, and I’ve seen it. It’s there in the teachers, the locals, the state organizations and the National Educational Association, and the American Federation of Teachers. This leadership has already saved lives, and it will save more lives in the coming months.
Nelson Mandela said that, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." If you look at how our federal government and many state and local governments are treating children, it's clear that children are not a priority. And the way teacher's unions have fought for children shows that they may be the heroes that save our country.
If believe in our children, our teachers, and if we truly prioritize our most precious resources, we will have hope for a better tomorrow. Right now the unions are showing us the way.
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