Public sector unions and their political influence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Because as the internal fighting described above should lay bare, not all teachers love the WTU. I have several DCPS teacher friends who all hate their own union. So for me it's possible to support individual teachers -- even groups of teachers -- but not the WTU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Do you support CORE's proposal to have had DCPS move in an out of virtual throughout 2022?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Do you support CORE's proposal to have had DCPS move in an out of virtual throughout 2022?

Depends on how high COVID levels are and what mitigations are in place. There are schools I wouldn't send my kid to when levels are really high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Do you support CORE's proposal to have had DCPS move in an out of virtual throughout 2022?

Depends on how high COVID levels are and what mitigations are in place. There are schools I wouldn't send my kid to when levels are really high.

So you don't, since there's no differentiation by school in the CORE proposal.

[Anonymous]

Unions are organizations, not individual workers. It is completely acceptable to distinguish between an organization and individual members of the organization.

For teachers' unions, I understand what the OP is saying. WTU and other teachers' unions purport to speak on behalf of both teachers and students. This stems from the union's advocacy which stresses that as experts, teachers know best how education should be delivered so that normally, the interests of students and teachers align.

The pandemic revealed that these interests do not align, particularly when teachers' unions refused to acknowledge real harm to students caused by decisions like school closings. As a matter of advocating for a safe workplace, the WTU acted in the interest of its members at great cost to students. If the closure decisions were justified under the circumstances to protect the interests of the WTU (and public health), the failure of teachers' unions to discuss, acknowledge, and propose real solutions to address this harm demonstrates a need for an organization expert voice focused on the needs of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Do you support CORE's proposal to have had DCPS move in an out of virtual throughout 2022?

This is a completely different discussion so I think we should move it to another thread, but that proposal would’ve been much better for students. I teach in a school that had a lot of covid cases throughout the year, with students in multiple 5-10 day quarantines. Some missed up to 20% of the year on quarantine alone!

Since there was no virtual option, those kids just sat at home. How is that better for kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think the teachers’ interests are almost perfectly aligned with my kids‘ interest. If all the teachers quit because they are afraid of getting sick, my kid is going to be up a creek. We did have a ton who retired or left. I don’t always agree 100% but the views of teachers are extremely important to me.

I feel the same way. I'm not 100% aligned with the WTU, but close enough to have a healthy tension. I would work collaboratively with them any day. The Mayor on the other hand... she's gotta go.

how are you going to “work collaboratively” with any union? you’re not a stakeholder - that’s been made very very clear. OTOH you actually elect a mayor and have specific ways to give feedback or can campaign against her.

I think all public sector unions should have less influence, period. The fact that police unions & teachers unions can disrupt the ability of citizens to have properly administered public services is a huge problem. Look how WTU supporters manage to silence public criticism here.

Can I ask what about the WTU you are interested in criticizing? Specifically?

Do you have to ask? School closures, for one. That taught me that every WTU advocacy item is primarily about teachers, not about children. I am glad that WTU seems more conciliatory now (eg not fighting the end of the mask mandate). I follow WTU on twitter, and it seems to me that their primary advocacy points that they put muscle behind all have to do with strengthening their bargaining unit - their main campaign this year was librarians in every school. I mean that's great an all, but there's absolutely no reason to believe that libraries, among all else, are the most important additional staff we need in each school.

Oh, and they are against accountability (IMPACT) - that's probably their primary political ask, since DC law (correctly) says that Impact cannot be part of the contract. Once the WTU gets to negotiate teacher evaluation system, just see how hard it is to remove failing and even dangerous teachers.

I'm a parent and I hate Impact / PARCC

Same same same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think the teachers’ interests are almost perfectly aligned with my kids‘ interest. If all the teachers quit because they are afraid of getting sick, my kid is going to be up a creek. We did have a ton who retired or left. I don’t always agree 100% but the views of teachers are extremely important to me.

I feel the same way. I'm not 100% aligned with the WTU, but close enough to have a healthy tension. I would work collaboratively with them any day. The Mayor on the other hand... she's gotta go.

how are you going to “work collaboratively” with any union? you’re not a stakeholder - that’s been made very very clear. OTOH you actually elect a mayor and have specific ways to give feedback or can campaign against her.

I think all public sector unions should have less influence, period. The fact that police unions & teachers unions can disrupt the ability of citizens to have properly administered public services is a huge problem. Look how WTU supporters manage to silence public criticism here.

Can I ask what about the WTU you are interested in criticizing? Specifically?

Do you have to ask? School closures, for one. That taught me that every WTU advocacy item is primarily about teachers, not about children. I am glad that WTU seems more conciliatory now (eg not fighting the end of the mask mandate). I follow WTU on twitter, and it seems to me that their primary advocacy points that they put muscle behind all have to do with strengthening their bargaining unit - their main campaign this year was librarians in every school. I mean that's great an all, but there's absolutely no reason to believe that libraries, among all else, are the most important additional staff we need in each school.

Buddy this is a good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think the teachers’ interests are almost perfectly aligned with my kids‘ interest. If all the teachers quit because they are afraid of getting sick, my kid is going to be up a creek. We did have a ton who retired or left. I don’t always agree 100% but the views of teachers are extremely important to me.

I feel the same way. I'm not 100% aligned with the WTU, but close enough to have a healthy tension. I would work collaboratively with them any day. The Mayor on the other hand... she's gotta go.

how are you going to “work collaboratively” with any union? you’re not a stakeholder - that’s been made very very clear. OTOH you actually elect a mayor and have specific ways to give feedback or can campaign against her.

I think all public sector unions should have less influence, period. The fact that police unions & teachers unions can disrupt the ability of citizens to have properly administered public services is a huge problem. Look how WTU supporters manage to silence public criticism here.

Can I ask what about the WTU you are interested in criticizing? Specifically?

Do you have to ask? School closures, for one. That taught me that every WTU advocacy item is primarily about teachers, not about children. I am glad that WTU seems more conciliatory now (eg not fighting the end of the mask mandate). I follow WTU on twitter, and it seems to me that their primary advocacy points that they put muscle behind all have to do with strengthening their bargaining unit - their main campaign this year was librarians in every school. I mean that's great an all, but there's absolutely no reason to believe that libraries, among all else, are the most important additional staff we need in each school.

There’s lots of evidence that strong school librarians and libraries make a huge difference in kids’ lives. You might not agree or think it’s the top priority, but there’s plenty of pro-student reasons that the WTU would be advocating for this. A good union advocates for things that both support its members AND improve outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Do you support CORE's proposal to have had DCPS move in an out of virtual throughout 2022?

This is a completely different discussion so I think we should move it to another thread, but that proposal would’ve been much better for students. I teach in a school that had a lot of covid cases throughout the year, with students in multiple 5-10 day quarantines. Some missed up to 20% of the year on quarantine alone!

Since there was no virtual option, those kids just sat at home. How is that better for kids?

MORE kids would have sat at home, for 40% of 2022, under CORE's plan. That's definitely worse in total. Some kids at 20% loss versus all kids for 40% = worse.

Plus you've got to be completely not paying attention if you are still advocating that virtual provides the same educational outcomes as in-person school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think the teachers’ interests are almost perfectly aligned with my kids‘ interest. If all the teachers quit because they are afraid of getting sick, my kid is going to be up a creek. We did have a ton who retired or left. I don’t always agree 100% but the views of teachers are extremely important to me.

I feel the same way. I'm not 100% aligned with the WTU, but close enough to have a healthy tension. I would work collaboratively with them any day. The Mayor on the other hand... she's gotta go.

how are you going to “work collaboratively” with any union? you’re not a stakeholder - that’s been made very very clear. OTOH you actually elect a mayor and have specific ways to give feedback or can campaign against her.

I think all public sector unions should have less influence, period. The fact that police unions & teachers unions can disrupt the ability of citizens to have properly administered public services is a huge problem. Look how WTU supporters manage to silence public criticism here.

Can I ask what about the WTU you are interested in criticizing? Specifically?

Do you have to ask? School closures, for one. That taught me that every WTU advocacy item is primarily about teachers, not about children. I am glad that WTU seems more conciliatory now (eg not fighting the end of the mask mandate). I follow WTU on twitter, and it seems to me that their primary advocacy points that they put muscle behind all have to do with strengthening their bargaining unit - their main campaign this year was librarians in every school. I mean that's great an all, but there's absolutely no reason to believe that libraries, among all else, are the most important additional staff we need in each school.

There’s lots of evidence that strong school librarians and libraries make a huge difference in kids’ lives. You might not agree or think it’s the top priority, but there’s plenty of pro-student reasons that the WTU would be advocating for this. A good union advocates for things that both support its members AND improve outcomes.

It was definitely a tone deaf move to push for librarians after last year. They could have pushed for other types of employment -- support services, for example -- to remedy the ongoing repercussions of last year's closures. That would have helped their image, at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Because as the internal fighting described above should lay bare, not all teachers love the WTU. I have several DCPS teacher friends who all hate their own union. So for me it's possible to support individual teachers -- even groups of teachers -- but not the WTU.

exactly. there’s a big difference between supporting your school and supporting the teacher’s union. not that much different from police.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, this is like hoping the right wing doesn’t gain too much power, or at least has a strong check to it. I’m also of the camp that believes the union is there to serve its members, and if the choice is between its members and the education of children, they.l pick their members. That’s problematic for me.

What can be done? Just don’t vote for anyone endorsed by the union.

I just want to make sure I’m following…you’re comparing teachers to the MAGA party? I’m thinking you are just trying to backdoor your way around the WTU obsessive trashing that Jeff has been responding to, because you aren’t making much sense. I have no idea why you wouldn’t want teachers to have what the WTU is advocating for. Smaller class sizes, safer and cleaner schools, and better pay for quality teachers seems like something you wouldn’t want a check on. Would you mind explaining why these policies trouble you?

To further explain the comparison: I'm comparing the teachers UNION to the right wing, yes. Not individual teachers. Basically like saying "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I will till vote D rather than R." So "even if I don't know the exact policies of every candidate, I'll vote for the ones NOT endorsed by the union."

The point is that given too much unfettered power I think they make decisions that on the margin benefit them and not children. I've been alarmed by WTU CORE's January 2022 proposal to reclose schools based on an arbitrary case metric (one that seemed to be echoed by R. White's attempted proposal). I see that CORE is founded by some of WTU leadership. It's not a stretch to believe that CORE has power in the WTU. So CORE releases policy proposals that I find hurtful to children, and that leads me to be very wary of the power that WTU has.

You can say this is all in the past, but January 2022 wasn't that long ago, and it's not like coronavirus is going away. Based on recent past proposals, I am worried about their future proposals.

The teachers union is a group of teachers. I'm not sure where you get this idea that the union is some out there thing that's separate from the teachers we love.

As a parent involved at the school I've had no problem collaborating with teachers.

Do you support CORE's proposal to have had DCPS move in an out of virtual throughout 2022?

This is a completely different discussion so I think we should move it to another thread, but that proposal would’ve been much better for students. I teach in a school that had a lot of covid cases throughout the year, with students in multiple 5-10 day quarantines. Some missed up to 20% of the year on quarantine alone!

Since there was no virtual option, those kids just sat at home. How is that better for kids?

the problem is excessive quarantine. and even so, it’s better to keep schools open even with a lot of kids out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think the teachers’ interests are almost perfectly aligned with my kids‘ interest. If all the teachers quit because they are afraid of getting sick, my kid is going to be up a creek. We did have a ton who retired or left. I don’t always agree 100% but the views of teachers are extremely important to me.

I feel the same way. I'm not 100% aligned with the WTU, but close enough to have a healthy tension. I would work collaboratively with them any day. The Mayor on the other hand... she's gotta go.

how are you going to “work collaboratively” with any union? you’re not a stakeholder - that’s been made very very clear. OTOH you actually elect a mayor and have specific ways to give feedback or can campaign against her.

I think all public sector unions should have less influence, period. The fact that police unions & teachers unions can disrupt the ability of citizens to have properly administered public services is a huge problem. Look how WTU supporters manage to silence public criticism here.

Can I ask what about the WTU you are interested in criticizing? Specifically?

Do you have to ask? School closures, for one. That taught me that every WTU advocacy item is primarily about teachers, not about children. I am glad that WTU seems more conciliatory now (eg not fighting the end of the mask mandate). I follow WTU on twitter, and it seems to me that their primary advocacy points that they put muscle behind all have to do with strengthening their bargaining unit - their main campaign this year was librarians in every school. I mean that's great an all, but there's absolutely no reason to believe that libraries, among all else, are the most important additional staff we need in each school.

Oh, and they are against accountability (IMPACT) - that's probably their primary political ask, since DC law (correctly) says that Impact cannot be part of the contract. Once the WTU gets to negotiate teacher evaluation system, just see how hard it is to remove failing and even dangerous teachers.

I'm a parent and I hate Impact / PARCC

Same same same

Schools & teachers have to be accountable and measurable in some way.