Teachers unions must support good teaching

During my term on the Thompson School Board (2013-2017), I observed that teachers unions, both local (TEA) and national (NEA), focused primarily on (1) maximizing teachers’ salaries, which is the same as other unions, and (2) relaying dictates particularly from bureaucrats in the Department of Education, to the hundreds of thousands of teachers across this nation.

These dictates guided the teachers and administrators, even when they conflicted with the thinking of the board. For example: During my term a dictate came down to allow “trans” males to use girls’ restrooms. After speaking against such craziness, I was told quietly to calm down, that the superintendent had arranged for a separate restroom for such exceptions in each school.

As another example, for many years student achievement was the first of the board’s five annual goals for the schools, anticipating rising scores on standardized tests and increased number of scholarships at graduation. During my last year, a dictate came down to drop the achievement goal in favor of social and health-related goals, and this change was put into force by a compliant board.

Incidentally, according to E.D. Hirsch, standardized test scores across the nation have trended down starting near the date (Oct. 17, 1979) when the Department of Education became a Cabinet-level agency. My main conclusion from my experiences on the School Board was that student/parent choice, with education money following the student instead of the school, as is now law across Iowa, is the only way out of our present educational morass.

— Carl Langner, Loveland