Teacher Unions and the G.O.P.
Unlikely allies work together
For the past few weeks, the news has highlighted the Chicago teachers' strike. A Democratic mayor, namely Mayor Rahm Emanuel, clashed with the city's teachers on contract negotiations. This conflict raised many questions about our education system: should teachers really have tenure? Is it fair to evaluate teachers based on their students' test scores?However, another intriguing consequence of the strike has risen: Democratic politicians cannot blindly rely on teachers' unions for their support. Teachers' groups have actually donated $1.23 million to Republican state candidates. They hope to sway those who are not completely in favor of test scores being used as ways to evaluate teachers, charter schools, or teachers losing tenure.
Democrats still receive the bulk of donated union money, but the amount of donated money going to the GOP is the highest amount since 2004. Back in 2004, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act increased funding for disadvantaged children considerably (by about $13.5 billion) and teachers were in favor of NCLB staying in place. Hence, the donated money.
President Obama has been in favor of evaluating teachers based on test scores, to many teachers' displeasure. Will this affect his campaign adversely?
1 comment:
Though the Teacher Unions are not in favor of educators being evaluated based on test scores, I do not believe Obama's opinion will dramatically effect his campaign. However, it may cause those against this method of evaluation to not think of Obama as highly as they did previously. I do not believe that this fact alone will cause many people to change their vote from Obama to Romney; especially considering Romney's plan for evaluating teachers overlooks tenure and will remove those who are ineffective. Obama's opinions may not be ideal to many, but they are not radical enough to convert many people to Romney.
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