Teacher Unions Should Not Be Abolished Essay

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The current education system has been an absolutely abysmal to the American society. Teacher accountability is unobtainable in American public schools, because of teacher union policies. This country will never compete with international education standards, if there is not reform. Because of poor teacher performance, children are getting passed through the school system with a first grade reading level, which accounts for the high margin of drop-outs. The drop-outs have led to vacancies in vital domestic job industries, that have been a cause for business owners to seek outsourced labor.
Labor unions have been utilized since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The union’s purpose is to insure that workers receive proper and equal treatment in the workplace. Teacher unions emerged in the 1857s to protect child labor laws and teacher salary. As the temperance movement spiked in the early 1920s, so did teacher tenure. It began as protection for women, who had potential to be fired, just for an announced pregnancy. The movement gained traction when rules were enforced by administration, that put control over what hours teachers
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Some states such as Florida, Kansas and North Carolina have taken charge to remove tenure altogether, but tenure policies remain in the majority of states. Before the teacher is given tenure, they must prove their worthiness in a probation period. The probation can last anywhere between one to five years, except in Washington DC, which does not have a set time requirement. When the period ends, the principal will then decide if the school will grant the teacher tenure. After the school approves the teacher’s tenure, it costs an abundant of time and money, to fire the teacher. Districts must take it up with state courts and labor unions, which can take up to 15% of the principals work time and around $250k. The prefered method is to pay the teacher $100k, in an agreement to part

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