daveman
Diamond Member
I don't share your rosy view, but I'm glad it worked out well for you.For most of my career as a teacher, I did not belong to a union either because they only truly represented tenured teachers.
I disagree with your assessment that they protect the jobs of below-average teachers. Many times I saw good teachers being railroaded by administrators who had never heard the term "due process" until it was forced upon them by the union. They just wanted the ability to fire someone when their wife or husband wouldn't put out for them last night.
I once had a principal threaten to fire me because he accused me of disobeying his instructions. He was smart enough to contact my union representation prior to making a fool out of himself. When we held our meeting where he expected me to quit, I provided documentation that I had been doing exactly what I was accused of NOT doing.
This same principal accused me of not updating my notebook used by substitute teachers with current class lists. He did not even realize I was using a tool provided in our online gradebook that even showed seating charts and pictures of my students. He was unaware that such a tool was possible because he did not understand the student information management system. As a former administrator, I helped implement an almost identical system for over 70,000 students in our school district in Florida. I loved watching him dig a hole and crawl in it right behind his desk when I showed him that I had completed the task months before.
Unions have their shortcomings, but defending teachers and demanding due process is one very valid function.