Hi Zane -- thank you for the thoughtful post. One point that lingers in the background of this issue, which was mentioned briefly in class, is the baseline posture of our "At Will Employment" system in the United States. It's a default that we've all come to accept and expect without question. It might create flexibility in hiring and changing one's role, but it undoubtedly feeds into the inherent disparity of bargaining power between employer and employee. Unions help tip the scale back to the employee, and I'm okay with the thumb on the scale being heavy in this case. Unions fight for and have obtained security of tenure for their members, which changes the working dynamic and prevents economically expedient firings. Teachers deserve this protection and this protection arguably creates much more benefit than it does abuse. It's a shield that protects a teacher's daily decisions and allows for some healthy creativity and perhaps some necessary "insubordination" to go against bad administrative policies without fear of being sacked for no cause. Unions also serve as a sword, but my intuition tells me that they are still the David going up against Goliath. At the end of the day, empowered teachers will led to empowered students.

-- MilesGreene - 11 Apr 2018