What kinds of problems can a teacher’s union fix?

You would get the benefit of a lower paycheck after they take out your union dues. You would get the benefit of having your raise negotiated each year irrespective of whether or not you actually performed any better than any other teacher. You would get the benefit of management resentment for having unionized. You would get a more polarizing and less cooperative work environment where ultimately the students would suffer. Please don’t become a socialist.

On the OTHER hand, unions can also help teachers when they are treated unfairly by parents/administrators. Say you are given an unsatisfactory rating, yet the administrator failed to give you a preobservation conference (which is required according to my contact). the union rep will come to you rescue and point out to your leadership that they failed to adhere to the contract which they had agreed to. Then you are taken through the process properly. Now, whether you end up satisfactory or not depends on your skills, but at least you are treated fairly. Other benefits from my union are legal council on job-related issues, discounts on various services (car rental, insurance, loans, etc), negotiated contacts, and a strong political voice. I am not a socialist and do not believe that a union means that all teachers (good or bad) get to stay in teaching. Teachers have observations for that very reason. If teachers were given pay raises individually, today’s politicians would surely make sure it was based on test scores alone. We don’t need that for our students.

A union offers liability insurance against allegations. In today’s society suing seems to be the norm for lots of people. I feel the number 1 reason to belong to a union is for the liability insurance. The union can help you get a fair and reasonable contract. Pay increases, benefits, job security, class sizes, are just a few things that a union can help you with. Yes, unions are costly, but the cost is worth the piece of mind you will have knowing you have a union to protect your rights.

Pay, benefits, retirment plans, health plans, greievence resolution methods.

The draw backs are monthly dues, one time buy in payment, one time buy out payment and strikes. There is also the possiblities of lay offs of younger teachers with less years in should the district have funding problems and class room over crowding should the Union not have addressed that issue in a contract that has 3 years to run.

To me, the two biggest things you would get are the security of legal representation if you need it, and the power of collective bargaining in your contract.

I’ve worked in both union and non-union schools. My non-union school was a nightmare – schedules would change, duties would change, there was no guarantee of benefits other than “Benefits,” (which could mean a bandaid and a shot of whiskey). A colleague of mine had to retain her own lawyer when she was accused of hitting a student (not true). In the end, she won, but what a nightmare to have to retain your own counsel and face it alone.

My last year there, I was told at the 11th hour I had to give up my conference time and teach an extra class – meaning, I would have no prep time at all. Our contract said that our job duties would be specified by the principal, and since there were no stipulations about the maximum hours I could teach, I was forced to. They promised me one stipend (10% of my salary), but then renegged (oh, we meant 10% of your monthly income, not your yearly) – which meant I ended up working 2 more hours (a conservative estimate) a day, for less than sub pay.

I worked non-union for five years, and never were we allowed to bargain for anything on our contracts. Pay was lousy – pay freezes for two years, while the districts around us were keeping up 2-3%. We also worked about four extra weeks (2 before, and 2 after), were required to attend every dance, expected to coach something for no stipend, weekly 2 hours staff meetings, 4 PT conferences… etc etc.

In such a tyranny, we needed a union. We tried to get the AFT in to organize us, but admin caught wind of it, and squished it. The three of us that started the movement were suddenly “incompetent” teachers who needed (almost daily) observation, we were “subversive” and not “team players.” They made our lives hell and threatened to fire us. I’m sure we would’ve won in the end (it’s illegal to fire someone for organizing), but in the meantime, none of us could afford to be without a salary. So be careful, you’ll need to have 100% of the staff on board.

Yes, I pay $40/month in union dues now, but I don’t have any of this nonsense. I know what to expect.

Two good answers out of three. A good teacher’s union helps in negotiations for pay, insurance, class size, etc. They provide legal representation in the event it is needed. For instance, in one of my classes I had a 3rd grade boy who would enter my room by running, doing a belly slam on top of the nearest table, and knock over stools. In 3 months of Art classes he accomplished one task, he picked up a piece of scrap paper off the floor and colored it in with scribbles. I, the music teacher and PE teacher all had the same problems, behavior, not co-operating. We were required by the school to give grades, he got “F”s from us with requests to see the parents. Mom and dad got upset with the grades and brought in a lawyer. In a meeting with the 3 teachers, our union lawyer, the parents and their lawyer, and the principal, the parents accused of of being racist. They said the only reason we flunked their child was because we hated African-Americans. (35 of my students were African-American, he was the only one to flunk). We were so flabbergasted by the parent’s charges that we let our NEA lawyer handle the reply and he dealt with them. In a non-union school you would have been paying the lawyer out of your pocket and odds are he wouldn’t know the laws about education.

You would also get reasonable pay raises and the assurance that if the Principal’s daughter needed a job, he wouldn’t fire you for no reason and give it to her. Education is one of those professions where you need to be protected.

Sorry, yet instructors are a huge subject with the yankee academic gadget. regularly conventional preparation and their unions. it is gloomy yet there has not been a manner of comparing instructors in public faculties. those are public workers, paid via tax money, the familiar public has a ideal to be conscious of whilst one isn’t preforming to a pair form of common. conventional preparation desires to concentration on the primaries of preparation, shrink the impression of unions and boost the impacts of tax payers. in this section there are instructors strikes fantastically much each and every 300 and sixty 5 days. all of them declare with greater pay you get a greater ideal preparation. nicely if reality learn it is an outright lie. instructors are nicely paid, they have large jobs and advantages. they ought to do greater ideal without around the board pay will boost. instructors ought to tutor they’re nicely well worth the money.