Germany to ‘Re-Educate’ Children from Conservative ‘Right Wing’ Families

Whether teachers are legally allowed to strike varies from state-to-state. But in most places, striking is illegal.

As of January 2014, 35 states and the District of Columbia had laws forbidding strikes, according to Milla Sanes and John Schmitt of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Teacher strikes are legal in 12 states and not covered in statutes or case law in three.

That said, teachers do strike in states where it’s illegal. For instance, strikes are against the law in West Virginia, but that did not stop teachers there this year. Walkouts in Colorado and North Carolina followed statewide actions in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Kentucky. I didn't read where any teacher lost there job as a result of striking illegally.

Wikipedia - 2018 teachers' strikes in the United States

As for unions for teachers in Georgia, up until Janus teachers had to pay compulsory union dues. It was automatically deducted by the payroll process that cut their check. To which union I do not know, I suppose that was dependent on the state.

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union and professional interest group in the United States, and it represents, represents public school teachers, as well as, other support personnel, faculty/staffers at colleges/universities, retired educators, and college students whop are preparing to become teachers. It has members from all 50 states.

In Georgia you also have the GAE, or Georgia Association of Educators.

But that is not the point. The point was you said that unions do not make input into curriculum decision making. That principals makes those decisions. But these unions are powerful entities and often use whatever it takes to get what they want, and the curriculum is one of those things they use their power to influence.

I teach in Georgia. I don't have to join a union, nor are dues deducted from my wages. Teachers have no respect for those organizations, and generally do not join or attend meetings.

I am an embedded hardware/software engineer. I retired after 46 years in that industry, but got bored. I took up teaching to fill the void and to bring cool stuff to students. I am teaching only one class in high school; and, kids really love it. Now my temporary teaching permit will expire, and it is not worth the effort to get certification. So this will be my third and final year of teaching.

Yet, it is quite clear that the administration is the primary problem with education, not the teachers. I have had my share of close encounters with the administration as I attempted to make the embedded curriculum more meaningful. If you can't believe an insider, rest assured that you will never be part of the solution to the woes which plague education.

BTW, Georgia became a "right to work state" back in 1947 so teachers did not need Janus to avoid paying unions fees. Janus in effect makes every state kind of like "right to work" states, as I understand it. She was in California which of course did need Janus to avoid paying those union fees, and maybe I am just hearing what she faced in California where liberals control a lot of what goes on in California schools. So the affect unions have on the curriculum in California, may not be true all over. But it seems to be a pretty pervasive problem in this country. Usually when you have a problem that affects a large percentage of the nations schools, it is coming from a few that affect/infect the many. Otherwise, I would think it would be more of an isolated problem in areas than the pervasive problem it is. Are the majority of administrations/principals really that bad nationwide?

Also, I want to applaud you for what you have been doing in the school district you teach in. Kids need to learn good things like you are teaching.

Are the majority of administrations/principals really that bad nationwide?...

Administrators/principles are graded in accordance to the percentage of students they pass with favorable grades. The amount of money they get for each new year depends entirely on the metrics of the previous year. So, it is they who pressure teachers to provide "mercy grades" for poor students and even lower standards in general in order to increase the graduation rate. I held the same views as you before I taught in a high school. That is when I saw senior teachers being pressured to leave in order to reduce operating costs, senior teachers being asked to reduce grading standards to increase pass rates. I have even heard an assistant principle say that what happens to students in college is not their concern; for, the only concern is to get students out of high school with plausible grades. Teachers who object to these sort of things are removed from department chair positions, denied positions on councils, and so on. Yes, the administration is the root of most of the evils of public schools.

A principle can pull a teacher's certificate over even small infractions or anything labeled insubordination.

I am pretty proud of the teachers in my school, well most of them. They try pretty hard to bring their best to students.

Another matter rests with parents. Many administrative rules are in place due to parents bringing frivolous lawsuits against the school ... and winning in court. One very wonderful calculus teacher was sued by a parent because she wouldn't let a student retake a quiz which fell just a few points of a 100. The school threw her under the bus, and now requires all teachers to allow students to retake any test or quiz over for any reason. This causes chaos and greatly increased workloads. The school has been battered rather severely by parents, and they bend to even the threat of a suit.

In my estimation, teachers are the scapegoats of the administration, and this seems to serve well to keep the blame from the guilty parties.

Thank you for the kind words regarding my foray into teaching. It has been very rewarding to work with the kids. I get tremendous pleasure when a student's face lights up with understanding. I have created hardware/software maniacs. It has also been a very enlightening experience. It is very humbling to discover that teaching is actually more difficult than engineering.

Parents really need to wake up and address the actual cause of the rot in the education system. I don't see the teachers as being the actual problem. People MUST address the bureaucracy that gridlocks the educational process.

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