Teachers in the Sprague-Lamont School District voted last week to decertify the Washington Education Association as their bargaining representative
Among other things, teachers voted October 10th to break away from the WEA because teachers were fed up with annual dues of nearly $700 per teacher, much of which was used by the W.E.A. to further social and political agendas they found offensive. To put it another way...the state and national unions simply don't represent them, their interests, or their thinking.Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 20, 2005 11:37 AM | Email This
hope the school district can find an organization that TRULY represents their interests more than the WEA did.
You should have followed the link and read the actual news item on this. They did find someone to better represent their interests: themselves. If the really important thing that the union does is collectively bargain for teachers, why on earth would you ever need something more than a local group of teachers to do so?
Way to go teachers, it has been pointed out that we spend nearly $9K per year per student. If each teacher has 30 kids, they are responsible for generating $270K per year in revenue, The teacher should get their $80k+ then let the district fight over the rest. Bargain for that individually teachers! I tell you what, if someone wants to give me $1/4mil to teach 30 kids, I can provide a nice facility and a great education for that amount.
I don't think the unions are evil--they have done things that I think are good. But they seem to think that all union members think the same as the party bosses do, and then they do things that I don't think are so good.
When you say party bosses, are you referring to multiple bosses of one party, a single boss of multiple parties, or both? The problem with the NEA/WEA is they are the tool of exactly one political party. That has to stop.
Posted by: huckleberry on October 20, 2005 02:55 PM..., why on earth would you ever need something more than a local group of teachers to do so?
If public schools were the servants of only local masters, then collective bargaining could be handled at the local level. But in reality, public schools provide more service to the needs of state and federal masters than local communities. As long as that state of affairs exists, I cannot completly disregard the teachers's desire to organize state-wide and nationally.
But you know, all things considered, I would prefer to see public schools again made answerable to the communities they serve.
Posted by: huckleberry on October 20, 2005 03:00 PMHuckleberry: "The problem with the NEA/WEA is they are the tool of exactly one political party."
I've noticed that. They seem to rarely,if ever, find anything good in a cause or legislation that isn't "progressive" or "liberal" in some way.
Dan: "If each teacher has 30 kids, they are responsible for generating $270K per year in revenue, The teacher should get their $80k+ then let the district fight over the rest. Bargain for that individually, teachers!"
Could we extend that up into higher education, too? Why let only the primary and secondary teachers compete on this proposed open market?
I can report a small bit of good news on that front: My mom works for DIS in Olympia, and while she's a complete lib (can't choose your parents), she and a few others are working to decertify the professional union that "represents" them.
Good luck to all who choose to stand on their own merits rather than protect the inept through unions.
Long live free Sprague-Lamont!!!