Q&A of the Day – Combating the Influence of Teachers Unions in Education
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry: Submitted via talkback: Brian Q&A: I have two questions and they might be unrelated but question one is what would be the real impact of eliminating teachers unions and question two how can we incentivize more conservative teachers into the workforce like myself?
Bottom Line: These are great questions that I’m not sure I can answer but will do my best to try. Today’s note comes following the news that multiple local educators have been fired or placed on leave following disturbing comments concerning Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week. They include a doctor at the University of Miami, a professor at FAU and the (now) former president of Martin County’s teacher’s union. This is far from a local phenomenon however, as similar stories exist across the country and around the world for that matter.
As it specifically pertains to teachers' unions and the potential they’ve fanned the flames of some of this – it's worth noting that Randi Weingarten, the president of the largest teacher’s union, the NEA, has deleted and apologized for her own post related to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Quoting Randi: I have deleted because some on the right thought it was a false flag. I hear you; I want to be responsive so I deleted. Political violence must be condemned, and we all must de-escalate. Notably, in searching Randi’s X feed, she’s reposted numerous posts from Democrats saying they’re being targeted for political violence in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In addition to posting outrageously false information including a post from last Friday providing fake news that the perpetrator assassinated Charlie Kirk “for not being conservative enough”.
Also, notably, Randi is the featured speaker at an Empowering Democratic women to run and win, or EMERGE event today entitled: Teachers Against Fascists. It’s notable as the Left’s false attack on Charlie Kirk was that he was a fascist – as was inscribed on one of the bullet casings recovered from the assassin’s weapon. It’s worth mentioning this event was scheduled prior to the assassination, as Randi recently released a book entitled: Why Fascists Fear Teachers.
Part of the challenge for attempting to discern what impact of eliminating teachers' unions would be, is that they’ve been around since the 1850’s. The National Education Association was founded in 1857 in Philadelphia, with the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest union (and parent to all Florida teachers' unions) was founded in 1916. Also, a majority of public-school teachers have been in a union since 1975.
Currently 68% of all teachers are members of a union. That is down from a peak of 79% reached 25 years ago. But perhaps the best indication of what education might look like is found outside of traditional public schools. Here’s the unionization rate by school type:
- Traditional public school: 90%
- Charter school: 24%
- Private school: 12%
This isn’t to say that if teachers' unions weren’t in existence suddenly traditional public schools would present as charter schools or private schools do, but that from the perspective of the teaching environment, it would likely take on a somewhat similar feel. That might also be helpful for encouraging more conservatives into the teaching ranks as well... so about that aspect of today’s question.
It’s a question that’s been studied for at least three decades actively without a conclusive answer but that has produced some interesting themes that likely account for the realities. They boil down to these three dynamics that also serve as a funnel of sorts:
- Demographically there are more leftists interested in the teaching profession generally than there are conservatives
- Due to formal education being commonly taught from left-leaning perspectives, the more formal education one has, the more likely they are to identify with left-leaning politics (this has shown up heavily in voting trends as well over the past twenty years)
- Conservative certified teachers tend to seek out like-minded private schools and to a certain extent charter schools
We start out demographically with fewer young people who lean right who are interested in education as a profession. Some who start out as conservatives are indoctrinated through the education process, and of the conservatives left who enter education, they commonly will seek out schools that align with their values.
Therefore, to attempt to incentivize more conservatives into the profession, I think the greatest incentive would be to end the indoctrination of the education establishment a la what Florida has been working towards achieving through changes in pre-K through college education. Often many young conservatives are turned off by education because of their own experiences as students within it. An end to indoctrination in the classroom may be the best hope for more future conservatives envisioning their careers in classrooms.