So who represents the students’ interests? The administrators? Half the people employed by California schools are not in the classroom. The administrators cannot unionize. They do have their own interests: to keep their jobs.
So, who really cares about the students’ interests? Parents of course. Well, most parents, not all parents. But parents have little power relative to the teachers’ unions. What collective power has the parents ever exerted over Pajaro Valley Unified School District? None.
The school board Trustees are supposed to represent the students. But if the Trustees, or some of them, are in the hip pocket of the unions, then the students are not represented by those Trustees.
One solution might be to unionize the students. Yes, I’m serious. Every student could be represented by one parent (or other adult of their choosing) and those adults choose representatives to sit down collectively with the teachers’ union. At the same table with the administrators. Together they could create “goal focused cooperation†– necessary in school districts where systemic change has lead to impressive advances in student achievement.
Bruce Woolpert, home grown in Santa Cruz County and President and CEO of Graniterock, wrote an article titled, “Unions exists to support teachers, not studentsâ€. Woolpert cites an article by Terry M. Moe published in the current issue of the American Review of Political Science. Moe’s article argues that unions are detrimental to student achievement particularly so in large districts that are predominantly minority. Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) is large (about 20,000 students) and predominantly minority (78 percent).
In response to Woolpert’s article, Sandra Nichols, 8 year school board Trustee for PVUSD, wrote 4-19-09 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Her article is †Teachers are in it for the good of societyâ€. Yes, Sandra, some individual teachers do seek the good of society Whatever that is.
But, the PVUSD teachers’ union does not seek other than what is good for their members. Sandra, over the last 8 years have you ever seen as a union priority that teachers’ salary increases will be tied directly to student achievement increases? What a novel thought.
Sandra Niichols side steps Bruce Woolpert’s thesis that collective bargaining harms student achievement particularly in large districts with large minority enrollment. Districts like PVUSD. Nichols has been on the PVUSD board for 8 years. What objective evidence does she offer that the PVUSD teachers’ union has helped students to excel? Had she any objective evidence she would have offered it.
Since it is highly unlikely we can get rid of collective bargaining in the near future, let’s unionize the students and have parents sit across the table from the teachers’ union. And together let them work towards “goal focused cooperationâ€. Let them work together that all students achieve regardless of family income.
written by Cameron S. Jackson, Ph.D., psychologist living in Aptos
(831) 688-6002 P.O.Box 1972, Aptos, CA 95001-1972
Monterey Bay Forum, www.freedomOK.net/wordpress
