Kids miss out when the teachers’ union indulges in a turf war
Former Labour Prime Minister Peter Fraser believed that ‘‘every person, whatever his level of academic ability, whether he be rich or poor, whether he live in town or country, has a right as a citizen, to a free education of the kind for which he is best fitted, and to the fullest extent of his powers’’.
I imagine nearly every educator shares this belief. But somewhere along the line, an influential minority of union activists have lost sight of this noble goal.
Teachers’ unions have a legitimate role in negotiating better pay and conditions, but they cross a line when they resort to bullying, exclusion, and legal threats to get their way.
Last year a student teacher sought to complete his programme of teaching placements. He’d served overseas in the Navy, taught music and te reo, and hoped to help kids reach their potential. When he applied for placement at a state school, the PPTA strongarmed the board into blocking him, and commanded every other state school to do the same.
The union’s reason? The man had previously worked at a partnership school. The unions oppose partnership schools, which serve as an alternative to the mainstream system, don’t have to employ union-approved teachers, and can pay staff what they like. So the PPTA’s obstructionism deprived state school kids of a teacher, even when students sorely need male Maori role models.
Meanwhile, Northland College has found success employing teachers who trained through Teach First – an accelerated qualification programme for top graduates. In the principal’s words, ‘‘Every single Teach First candidate we’ve had has just been outstanding, they are so thorough, so hard-working and so resilient, it’s unbelievable. Our kids get major benefit from them.’’
Yet when the school advertised for more Teach First trainees, the PPTA blocked them with a legal challenge, claiming discrimination. It showed the PPTA was prepared to exploit legal processes to bully a school into following the union line, even if it meant employing teachers mismatched for the school’s needs.
The same union threatened arcane health and safety litigation to block a Whangarei secondary school from sharing its chemistry fumigation cupboard with a partnership school. They have even issued a nationwide edict excluding Partnership School students from sports and cultural exchanges.
The unions are entitled to look after their members. But we must ask who benefits and who loses from their politically-motivated obstructionism.
None of the above actions have helped to improve an education system which retains key problem areas, such as inequities between Maori and non-Maori. Teacher quality is key addressing these problems, but the union’s thuggery protects a regime in which the best and worst teachers are paid the same, teachers of in-demand subjects can’t be paid extra, and boards of trustees tear their hair out attempting to dismiss teachers who underperform (or worse).
Mediocrity remains protected by tactics of exclusion, threats, and hostility towards different types of thinking. Ultimately, it’s the students who lose out. We have to do better for our kids.
Teachers are some of the greatest contributors to our society, and like most Kiwis I can remember influential teachers who shaped my life. However, I despair when these noble people are represented by a union that behaves like a gang of schoolyard bullies.