Teacher Unions Provide Professionalism

Bill Hauck and Roy Romer’s position will turn the clock back to the days when teachers in K-12 were treated as little more than hired hands, subject to the whims of administrators and politicians (“Should Teacher Legislation Go to the Head of the Class?” Commentary, March 19).

As a practical matter, their argument will only make it harder to recruit and retain the kind of talent the nation’s public schools will need to meet the daunting teacher shortage of 2 million expected over the next decade.

If teaching is to be truly a profession, its practitioners need to be accorded the same authority and respect that characterize other professions. Anything less than full parity will undermine attempts to turn around failing schools.

Teacher unions, despite what Hauck and Romer maintain, are not the enemy. They exist because there is no other way for individual teachers to make changes that will ultimately benefit students.

Walt Gardner

Los Angeles

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I worked in Los Angeles Unified for 16 years, and many times during this period I felt powerless in the decisions that were made to try to provide the wonderful students I taught with a sound education. After constant frustration with the LAUSD’s approach, I finally moved to a suburban district that actually consults me and values what I say when it comes to the curriculum and methods in the education of the students I teach.

I know now that my role as a teacher is important, not only for my students but for the parents, administrators and board of education as well, because I am the one who knows my students best. The role of teachers is extremely undervalued, and LAUSD Supt. Romer would be failing more than 650,000 students if he did not recognize that teachers should be the core of the district’s knowledge and strategy for improving student achievement.

Semeen R. Issa

Arcadia

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Wayne Johnson’s preposterous analogy comparing school administrators, most of whom began their careers as teachers, and school boards to HMOs is way off the mark (Commentary, March 19). This isn’t about brain surgery, it’s about how best to teach our kids. Equally preposterous is that AB 2160 would somehow improve California schools. Collective bargaining was, quite rightly, established to protect the interests of employees--in this case, teachers--and not the interests of the community, the parents or the kids. Nor was it designed to take the place of representatives elected by the community to set education policy or the professional staff hired by them to manage and run the public school system.

The fact of the matter is, AB 2160 would undermine our school accountability system, increase administrative costs and exclude parents and the local community from otherwise participating.

Scott P. Plotkin

Executive Director

California School Boards Assn.

Sacramento