Eric Austin

Recent Activity

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  Eric commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Do Teacher Unions Deserve the Bashing?

  First, let me say how impressed I have been reading this particular thread. Both sides have been respectful and offered their best explanations in a manner which allows for solutions that might be acceptable to both.
  
  I have been teaching for going on 8 years now and am currently the Co-President of my local union. For me, the biggest obstacle to any meaningful change is the tone of the discussion itself. It seems that where the union goes overboard is when they are forced to respond to virulent attacks meant almost solely to break the union entirely. Rather than find compromise which both keeps the union alive and which addresses the concerns people have with its operation, we are consistently forced to deal with voices that want to do away with us entirely. In response to these voices, the union is forced into a difficult situation.
  
  Instead of accusing us of protecting "bad" teachers, perhaps you could help us to address these teachers without automatically suggesting that unions need to be disbanded. What makes a "bad" teacher? What criteria are the most effective in determining a "bad" teacher? Why isn't it the responsibility of Adminstration to make these determinations before tenure kicks in? After tenure, what are the steps that administration must take in defining a "bad" teacher?
  
  Instead of berating the seniority pay system, perhaps you could come to the table for a discussion of a fair and equitable merit pay system. Today the head of the AFT remarked that the devil is in the details when it comes to the merit pay system proposed by President Obama. This seems like a measured and appropriate response and not the response of an evil union which refuses to change.
  
  I tried to address some of these issues (although not nearly as well as some people here) in my personal blog:
  
  http://liberalinthelandofconservative.blogspot.com/2009/03/do-teacher-unions-deserve-bashing.html

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  Eric signed the petition | about 3 years ago

  Bring back Civics education.