Education is too important to be left to the teachers’ unions

In Canada, the teachers' unions are enormously powerful, influencing school board and provincial elections and then using their clout to affect policy. Until recently, the same was true in the US where the teachers' unions ran roughshod over education decisions. However, this column outlines the various legislative and legal measures that are seriously curtailing their power. For example, membership in the biggest teachers' union, the National Education Association, has fallen by 9% since 2011, and it looks as if this trend will continue.

There is good reason to curtail the power of the teachers' unions, as education is too important to be left to the teachers' unions, and this insight is the main rationale for the new laws and rulings in the US. However, there is so far no indication that any Canadian movers and shakers get it.

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Education is too important to be left to the teachers’ unions

On social media:

Collective Panic: Court decision terrifies teachers unions: http://t.co/KEgmfUHXVB Could the party finally be over? #TDSB #ONTed #ONpoli
— by Sam Sotiropoulos (@TrusteeSam) December 3, 2014