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E-mail a friendYOUNG VOICES
Loss on Education
Rose is absolutely right, not just in her political leanings, but in her analysis of this issue. The issue on which Dems were least dynamic, and least creative was in education policy. Teachers unions used to be very dynamic; they used to gobble up research to discover new ways to improve their profession. They used to not focus so much on going on strike, as to being advocates for children. Now, teachers unions look like any wage-earners' union - they protect their own, but have not provided the research leadership and professional development that The American Bar or the American Medical Associations do.
Teachers should respect themselves as true professionals. They should demand the power to improve our education with freedom to pursue their own research-based methods of teaching. They should not be so focused on the power to go on strike for better pay. No teacher went into the calling to become a millionaire, but instead to change lives. Somehow, today's unions made us forget that.
Teachers must restore their own dynamism, by demanding real power to change our methods and adapt the process of learning to tough learning environments. So teachers, in your next contract negotiations, trade away your striking for some real power to be an agent of change.