Teachers' unions want "all the things," said National Education President Becky Pringle at the annual convention. Why isn't one of those things a safe, orderly learning environment?
While teachers say defiance, disruption and violence is a crisis in their schools, where are the teachers' unions?, asks Daniel Buck, a former English teacher now at the Fordham Institute.
Student misbehavior is a primary reason -- along with stress -- that teachers say they're considering leaving the profession, according to surveys, including union surveys, he points out.
Yet, the national teachers unions have pushed for "restorative practices," which weaken the consequences for misbehavior, rather than punitive discipline.
AFT President Randi Weingarten praised Los Angeles Unified for banning suspensions for defiance, he writes. That means telling children they do not "need to listen to or respect the adults in the building."
At the NEA's annual conference, president Becky Pringle's speech made "no mention was made of student behavior or learning loss or much of anything else that goes on in classrooms," writes Buck. "She spoke about the 'joy of teaching' and 'educator respect' while glossing over the very issue that most saps the joy from teaching."
"Social justice" policies don't lead to "equity," he argues. Soft, no-consequences discipline creates "chaotic, ungovernable schools" where even motivated students learn less than "students educated in more orderly classrooms." Disparities widen.
Teachers' unions need to step up on classroom safety, or cede the issue to conservatives, argues Buck.
Louisiana's Let Teachers Teach recommendations includes "removing discipline rates from school accountability systems so that administrators can maintain order without taking a hit in the state accountability system, empowering principals and school leaders to remove disruptive students from the classroom, and no longer asking teachers to play-act mental health professionals," he writes. Oklahoma, Florida and Houston have adopted similar policies.
Teachers unions have been, for decades, max employment unions. Expelling students and encouraging troubled students to dropout of high school does not keep the maximum number of teachers employed. That is why the teachers unions have pushed so hard for alterantive high schools with lower teacher student/teacher ratios rather than push for more academic education for the middle of the road students.
'Educator respect?' There's an interesting notion. Perhaps the next time an unruly student disrespects a teacher, the teacher's crew could drag said student out into the hall for an impromptu beatdown. I suspect that would be therapeutic for all involved, and life-changing for the student.