The Teachers' Union's Last Stand

Read the NY Times Magazine article, "The Teachers' Union's
Last Stand", from last Sunday's issue at


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/magazine/23Race-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Some highlights: NEA and AFT have 4.6 million members, 1/4 of all union members in the US.

Ten percent of the delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention were teachers' union members.
In the last 30 years teachers' unions have contributed more than $57 million to federal campaigns,
30% higher than any single corporation or other union. Typically they have contributed more

to state and local candidates, 95% to Democrats.
In return, they have secured lockstep compensation based on seniority, tenure rules which make it all but impossible to
fire ineffective teachers, and, in many states, contracts which require teachers to become union members and prohibit

teacher evaluation based on student achievement.


Pete