Over the weekend, I was talking to the director of the summer camp I used to attend, back in middle and high school, just catching up and telling her about my life these days. Inevitably, talk turned to the current state of education and the amount of bureaucracy surrounding the field. Everyone who works anywhere near education knows that, as much as we would like it just to be about the kids, a lot of political shenanigans affect what we do. At my school, the end of the year was full of tension because of these issues.
The jury is still out in my books about the union. Yes, I think the union is a good thing for teachers - it protects us from principals who might fire us at will (and talking to my former private high school teachers, this is certainly not out of the question). Our union rep this year got involved in some pretty heavy and necessary battles with our administration and helped change things for the better - I personally will benefit next year by actually having the correct amount of seat time for my science class, while for the past two years I have had about 20 hours LESS than the minimum state requirement. Obviously, this was something the union should fix.
However, I also feel that the union throws its weight around unnecessarily sometimes. There were times this year that I actually rolled my eyes during union meetings as our rep went on and on about how we shouldn't have to stay a minute longer than required by the contract and that the mandatory staff pd set up by the school each week was a violation. And maybe those statements were true. I, however, can't help but wonder why we are wasting time and energy on these things. I know few teachers, at our school or others, who do not spend extra time at school to benefit their students. It's what we do.
In the end, all that happened was that our union rep antagonized the administration to such a degree that he started getting "unsatisfactory" ratings. He is leaving our school next year. Although I saw it coming, it still saddens me that a promising and dedicated teacher ended up losing his chance to work with these kids and actually make their situation better.
It has already been suggested that I become the union rep next year, but I'm not sure I'm willing to get involved in all the messy politics. Still, I do feel that we need a union rep who understands the powers of the union and can use them to make life better for both teachers and students (because in the end, our jobs as teachers are only as good as our students' lives). I hope that if I am put in the position of union rep that I do a better job of communicating with administration and create a better relationship between them and the teachers.
