One of the more interesting developments from the nation’s mid-term elections is the labeling of organized labor as a reason for the country’s economic downturn. As I am sure you have seen, teacher unions are at the top of this list of those to blame. While I am not always in agreement with all of our teacher unions’ ideals, I feel that to blame them for the economic malaise is a mistake.
Educating our children is the most important social service that our country can offer. Using teachers as a scapegoat for the recession, while perhaps politically savvy, may ironically cause the quality of this service to be diminished. The teaching profession needs to attract the best candidates that it can, politically fueled teacher bashing may cause the opposite.
In the coming five years our district will likely lose (to retirement) more than a quarter of our teachers. We will need to recruit the best and the brightest to replace these folks. A public appreciation of our teachers will help us to attract and then keep these new hires. Let’s not cut off the nose to spite the face.
One Comment
Thank you Dr. Atwater for your comments regarding Teacher Unions not to blame for the current economic recession. I agree that we need to attract and retain highly qualified professionals and one way to do this is by offering competitive salary and benefits in our collective bargining agreement.