If
our public educators suffer from significant misrepresentation in public forums
and are often misunderstood by the general public, their unions are even more
maligned. Sayings like "I like my
teacher, but hate their union" and "If you can read thank a
teacher. If you can't thank a teacher's
union" appear on bumper stickers.
At the same time the message delivered by education
"reformers" and anti-educator advocates clearly attempt to pin the
blame for problems like the Achievement Gaps and school district budget woes on
the shoulders of educator unions.
What
anti-educator union activists and school "reformers" have done is
confuse the public and create the idea that educators and their unions are
completely separate entities. The fact
is that educator unions are made up of educators and to attack the labor
organizations that represent educators is equivalent to attacking the educators
themselves. The anti-union forces have
been somewhat reluctant to directly attack educators, but have not shied away
from attacking the unions that educators belong to.
The
image of unions as standing in the way of progress, protecting incompetent
educators and crippling school district budgets while intimidating and
dominating local politicians is one that doesn't match the reality of present
day Wisconsin. A present where unions have seen their
ability to negotiate and represent membership decimated. It doesn't even come close to the reality of Wisconsin in pre-Act 10
days. Times when the QEO was passed,
school budgets were slashed and the effects of NCLB and RttT were beginning to
be felt.
Even though the reality
doesn't match the fictional imagery of the anti-union movement, the public has
had a hard time discerning the difference between the two. This is in part due to the masterful rhetoric
of the Right as it works to undermine Worker's Rights in all sectors and
industries. It is also a result of the
economic struggles and the ability of conservative politicians to "divide
and conquer" the working and middle classes. These efforts have put unions on the
defensive and set the tone for debates in public forums.
At the same time, unions
haven't done a good job of representing themselves and challenging the rhetoric
of the conservatives with a positive and aggressive message of their own. Public employee unions, and public educator
unions specifically, have done great things in representing their members. When it comes to communicating with the
public they have been much less effective.
In some ways they have relied on the good will and general support of
the public based on the belief that there is support for the efforts of public
employees. As the recent conservative
political leadership has demonstrated, this assumption is a false one. There are many powerful conservatives who
don't value public services, and who seek to dismantle and privatize them. We clearly can't assume the support of those
in power when it comes to public education.
Even among those who
support our public schools, there is some question as to whether collective
bargaining is necessary and whether public educator unions are a positive
feature in the landscape of public education.
As educators we need to be ready to articulate our reasons for
continuing to belong to, and support our unions. The reasons that public educators need unions
are many, but our message isn't reaching the majority of citizens. In fact, the importance of unions is
sometimes lost on the members themselves.
What is it that makes a
union so valuable to our public educators (and to society as a whole)?
The most obvious reason is
the continuing decline in worker's wages and benefits, workplace safety and
ever increasing workloads and workdays that is occurring in workplaces around
the nation. Without public educator
unions we will see this decline accelerate exponentially under new rules that
put all decision making power in the hands of administrators and school
boards. We've already seen this begin as
school districts move to handbooks instead of contracts across Wisconsin. Here in Madison
we are fortunate to still be under contract, and need to use this to our
advantage and press the issues that educators value.
A union's primary purpose
is to promote the "general welfare" of its membership. However, by doing so, unions also raise the
conditions of all workers. This has been
demonstrated clearly through our history.
As union membership and activism rises we see noticeable gains for all
workers.
Unions provide an
organizational structure for educators to access in order to defend their
profession and promote public education.
The massive protests and subsequent recall process couldn't have
happened without the organizing efforts of unions. These political actions brought many issues
to light here in Wisconsin
that wouldn't have been noticed by the general public otherwise. In a democracy, accurate information is
vital, and unions have been actively filling an informational void on important
issues.
Union representation and
collectively bargained contracts give educators a voice in the decision making
processes around not only contractual issues, but also policy and other
topics. We are facing
"reforms" that are being forced on educators from outside our
profession and that frequently have questionable educational merit. As public educators we have an obligation to
speak against injustice and unethical actions promoted by these
"reformers". We know the
reality of our schools and our students on a personal and professional
level. Too often we see
"reform" efforts that impact our poorest and most disenfranchised
students. Unions have become a voice for
members of the community as well.
With all of the recent
turmoil in Wisconsin
and the constant attacks on unions, we have seen many of the responses be
defensive in nature. These responses
also tend to emphasize the potential, or actual negatives that come from losing
union representation. In short, we are
operating out of fear and clinging to what remains of our collective bargaining
rights. While the present situation
clearly is dire when it comes to issues around worker's rights and social
justice, the message of impending doom isn't one that promotes optimism, or
activism among supporters of public education and public educators.
By responding to the
attacks and attempting to defend our values we allow the debate to be shaped by
those who assail us. Our arguments have
less credibility with the general public when we are defensive. Instead of touting the positives of public
schools, people see headlines like this one.
Casual readers don't see much more than a headline that reinforces their
beliefs that schools are failing.
Many of the articles in
this post feature actions from Chicago or Milwaukee. Two communities that have significant
differences from Madison. One could argue that we aren't closing
schools in Madison. We don't currently have voucher schools here
either. Yet, there are common themes and
clear connections between what is happening in larger cities around us and what
we see beginning to happen in Madison. Education debates and education
"reform" are based on similar issues no matter what community they
occur in.
In the end
"community" becomes a key component in our efforts to preserve public
education. No matter what your political
persuasion, philosophy or beliefs every citizen is part of a larger whole. In order for individuals to succeed, they
must have a strong community around them.
The current conservative movement is based on individual rights and self
interests. Unions represent a different
view of what society can, and should, be.
A collective effort that raises all members of society to greater
heights. That is a message that union
members need to share. We are all in
this together. Public educator unions
are one voice, a voice that is necessary and that should never be
silenced.
