A young teacher weighs the pros and cons of teachers unions

Editor’s note: A response to Kelly’s piece from redefinED host Doug Tuthill is scheduled to run tomorrow morning. 

by Kelly Garcia

Fresh out of college, I was green about unions. I knew little about what they were and why they existed, yet I blamed many of the American education system’s woes on the powerful and bureaucratic teachers unions. Like most of my young and idealistic colleagues in Teach For America, I likened teachers unions to status quo. I resented them for that.

I also admired Michelle Rhee, a TFA alumnus, for her efforts to award Washington D.C. teachers for making achievement gains with their students. Performance pay was a concept that most union members did not support. I could not see the benefit of joining a union that was seemingly perpetuating the achievement gap by maintaining the system.

Over time, though, my black-and-white views about unions became more gray.

At the end of the first week of my first year of teaching, my roommate, a TFA corps member and a teacher in the Houston school district, came home to tell me she had met with a union rep at her school and joined the union. It seemed like an insult to her commitment to Teach For America, and to closing the achievement gap. I couldn’t make sense of her decision.

She explained she joined because teaching was a dangerous profession. At any time, a student or parent could make an accusation against her that could be career ending or have serious financial implications. She even shared a horror story of how the union helped save an accused teacher’s career and bank account after a student accused the teacher of sexual harassment.

Two years later, as I entered the public school system in Hillsborough County, Fla., I was invited to join the union for the first time. I declined.

After working 13 hour days in a charter school for two years and watching the movie Waiting for Superman, I felt that joining the union contradicted my commitment to education reform. The decision made me an oddball among my new public school teacher peers. They told me how much I am missing out. Many said they made back their union dues in savings on their car and homeowners insurance – where union members can get special discounts – and said I should think of joining the union as an investment.

Though my decision not to join the union was based on principle, I quickly learned why the institution has continued to flourish. Teaching inherently comes with risks. It is almost impossible to go through a school year without a student giving you a hug in the hallway, stopping in to say hello when you’re working in your classroom during a planning period or testing your patience with disrespectful words or actions. Teachers are in the trenches 180 days each year, and joining the union provides teachers with the peace of mind that is often necessary to do their job well. Paired with the financial perks, it seems almost illogical not to join.

Union interests should never come at the expense of a child’s education. In some ways, Michelle Rhee was justified in calling unions an institution that protects adult interests at the expense of children. But, in the field of education, adults need to be protected, too. The challenge to the young generation of teachers is creating a system that protects teachers while still keeping student achievement first.


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BY Special to NextSteps