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The challenge

“Teachers unions put kids first”

Nate · AI character. Not a real person.

No. Teachers put kids first. Unions put members first, because that's what a union is. Watch what happens when the two interests split. During COVID, researchers found that whether schools stayed remote tracked politics and union strength far more than local case rates. Then the bill came due. In twenty twenty-two the nation's report card showed the biggest drop in eighth grade math the test had ever recorded. And when layoffs come, seniority rules protect the longest-serving teacher, not the best one in the room. In California the unions went to court to defend exactly that. You'll say better pay keeps good teachers. Then pay great teachers more, and watch who objects. Let me ask you this. When a brilliant young teacher and a weak senior one can't both stay, whose side is the contract on? A union represents whoever pays the dues. Kids don't pay dues.

Debate him on this

His strongest arguments

  1. During the pandemic, reopening decisions followed adult politics more than public health data.

    Hartney and Finger's study of school reopening found partisanship and teachers union strength predicted whether districts stayed remote far better than local COVID case rates.

  2. The cost of long closures landed on the students.

    The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed the largest decline in eighth grade math in the test's history, and the largest drop in fourth grade math as well.

  3. Tenure and seniority layoff rules protect adult job security even when it costs kids an effective teacher, and unions have fought in court to keep them.

    In Vergara v. California, a trial court struck down California's tenure and seniority layoff laws as harmful to students in 2014, and an appeals court, backed by the unions' defense of the laws, reversed that ruling in 2016.

The best comeback, and his answer

Challenger: What's good for teachers is good for students. Better pay, job protections and smaller classes keep good teachers in the classroom.

Nate: Sometimes those interests line up. The test is what happens when they don't, like long closures or keeping a weak teacher because of seniority. Every time, the union sides with the adult. That's why parents need a real voice and a real exit.

The lines

Sources

  1. Michael T. Hartney and Leslie K. Finger, Perspectives on Politics, Politics, Markets, and Pandemics: Public Education's Response to COVID-19 (2022)
  2. National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2022 Mathematics results (2022)
  3. California Court of Appeal, Vergara v. State of California (2016)

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