Thursday, February 12, 2009

Politics and Public Education - with children being the losers

Clint Bolick writes about union efforts to make charter schools an endangered species:

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Charter schools--independent public schools operated by private entities that are free from many of the regulations that stifle creativity in regular public schools--have produced enormous academic gains in Arizona and across the country. But they are bracing for a plague that could destroy them: teacher unionization.
At the national level, unions are pushing for a "card-check" system to enable them to organize without receiving a majority vote among employees in a secret ballot. Instead, a union will be created if a majority signs cards authorizing a union--a method ripe for coercive influence.
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Unions want to destroy charter schools. And they may be successful. They have an incredible war chest of money to finance their efforts. David doesn't slay Goliath every time. Charter schools have popular support, but they are small enough that their voting constituency can't begin to compare to the power teacher unions have.

This is an example of why I don't see public education improving, maybe ever.

Most of the children in our nation are suffering with a poor education.

My crystal ball shows more and more parents homeschooling their children. I don't think unions will be able to destroy homeschooling. They have been trying, and will continue to try, but as more and more families turn to homeschooling, David will become bigger and bigger and at some point the political power will be close to equal.


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