Tomorrow’s Debate & Today’s Discussion

WaPo ed board foreshadows Arne Duncan’s big speech tomorrow…

Meanwhile, at ES today and tomorrow we have a group of teachers, former teachers, and a policy expert discussing how the professional work of teaching does or does not mesh with unionism.  It’s off to a good start and as with all of ES’ online discussions you can submit questions for the panelists as well.

Jay Mathews weighed-in on some of this on Monday in the WaPo.

One Reply to “Tomorrow’s Debate & Today’s Discussion”

  1. By definition, unions cannot be professional organizations. Unions must work for better wages, working conditions, benefits, and job security. Professional organizations must advance the state of their profession, control who can be a member, self-police for quality, set standards for performance and ethics, and insure that their members are paid “professionally” as in “for a fee” based on the work that they do. They cannot bargain collectively as unions must. Nor can they function by preserving jobs for the worst among them. Unions must fight for all members, even those who may not represent the highest professional ideas. Professional organizations must take an essentially opposite approach. Compare NEA and AFT with the Bar and AMA. Two unions, two professional organizations. Two completely agendas. The AMA isn’t going to unionize doctors. And the NEA isn’t going to professionalize teachers.

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