To Unionize or Not to Unionize?

Today during class, we continued the discussion on Charter Schools and it was STILL very informative! I had never really considered the implications that unions really had in regards to the formation of the schools themselves. Throughout my stint in the educational strand of college, I had always been told that the formation of Charter Schools only rose out of a need/ the extreme ineffectiveness that people were seeing in their public school. I was shocked to find out that there is an underlying notion that Charter schools may be a bucking response at this point to the Unions themselves. 

I often hear fellow students and teachers debating the necessity of teacher's unions. Many are able to make cases on both ends that are very persuasive. I have never felt knowledgeable enough to choose a side, however. Today, Dr. Glassman reflected again on his experiences as a new teacher in New York City. He thought back on negative experiences he has had with principles, uncooperative students, and angry parents. In the darkest times of his career as a teacher, he believed that the union was on his side. Dr. Glassman's testament to the validity of unions was very helpful for me to hear. I had never applied the concepts of possible negative situations that I will be placed in as a teacher, never thought about the very real possibility that I will be thrown under the bus my employer, or slandered by a student. I don't often like to dwell on the negative and sometimes that allows the "reality" of teaching to slip by me. After this class, I'm looking more to the side of "for" unionizing in my future. 

I came upon this article that lists the best Charter Schools in our nation. They are arranged from best to worst, showing testing scores and the number of students and teachers. I thought this was a really neat, real-life tie in to what we have been talking about! 

 

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings/charter-school-rankings