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Originally Posted by bejazd
It's not that simple...the teachers (through their unions) do sabotage the success of certain programs that parents feel are important and keep kids in school...for example, in my district, the teachers union will not allow any uncredentialed instructor to be paid by the district. Therefore, parents must pick up the tab for hiring an assistant band director, dance/color guard instructors, or coaches. The result? Parents picked up the tab. The district now is off the hook for budgeting for the music program. It goes along for a few years until the parents get fed up with fundraising up the wazoo all the time to pay for what we feel the school should be providing. Ultimately, music programs are being killed in the public schools in just this way...while the public charter school has the freedom to hire whoever they want, because they don't have to deal with the teacher's union.
The only time I feel like I actually have a say is I can control my own children's education. by doing exactly what DSTchaos's parents did..and when I vote on election day. The rest of the time we're pretty much at the mercy of the public school system as it is.
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The issue there is not the school administration, or (I would wager) the majority of the teachers themselves. The issue is what the union tells them they can and cannot do, and the heads of the union do NOT always speak for all the teachers.
Trust me...I live in Pennsylvania...my home school district went through one of the ugliest teacher/school board debates in the history of the state. It tore our town apart. I'm not saying the unions are perfect, but they were created for a reason.
Doesn't your district hire teachers with an eye to what else they can do? All I heard from my friends when they went for jobs is that unless they can coach or do something else extracurricular they couldn't get a job.