Thoughts on Teachers Unions

President Obama just gave a speech on education that included some things I very much support: more charter schools, higher salaries for effective teachers and the faster firing of bad ones. According to an L.A. Times article covering the topic, these are things that will not make teachers unions happy.

I don't care about making teachers unions happy. I care more about educating the country's youth well. I'm glad to see that President Obama is of the same mind.

Incidentally, if you think all teachers unions are about is helping quality learning to occur in our public schools, just take a peek at the homepage for the L.A. teachers union (UTLA) and look really hard for a focus on helping students learn. Keep looking. Closer. Oh, there's an item about shutting down water fountains contaminated with lead. That does affect students' intelligence. Seriously, UTLA's primary focus is on protecting the jobs and benefits of their union members. That's the basic purpose of a union, no matter what line of work the members are in.