Professionalism

I think like anything else, unions have their ups and downs. As Jenny stated..”Unions are advocates for public schools, teachers, children”. They are put in place to protect teachers. They want to see children in public education receive the best education by trying to provide good incentives for teachers. They offer you protection against arbitrary firing, they offer you protection against unreasonable demands, and etc. In Jenny’s powerpoint she talks about the issue with “tenure”. This makes it difficult to remove poor teachers. I think this is one of the biggest problems with a union. We have teachers in the system that just shouldn’t be there anymore for one reason or another. They are not benefiting the children any longer. Another problem with unions Jenny states is the seniority issues. A lot of first year teachers taking on positions that are least desirable. New teachers feel obligated. This is the last thing first year teachers need to be doing. The worst year for a teacher is the first year. Everything is brand new to you. You are trying to figure out what lessons to teach, how to get across to your students, classroom management tips, etc. I currently work with a first year teacher who said this may have been the worst year of her life. She has bought every classroom management book there is, and she feels like nothing is really working. As if that is not bad enough, the school keeps asking her to be on all these different committees. Teachers are not prepared for their first year, so, why do the school systems feel its okay to throw extra jobs at them. As if they don’t carry enough weight on their shoulder. I guess, you honestly just have to weigh your options. I’ve never been apart of a union. I have heard a lot of positive and negative points about them from my mother who is apart of a school union. I don’t feel I am educated enough to make a stance on it.