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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 468 097 EA 031 840 AUTHOR Lieberman, Myron TITLE The Teacher Unions: How They Sabotage Educational Reform and Why. ISBN ISBN-1-893554-21-X PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 336p.; First published in 1999 by The Free Press. AVAILABLE FROM Encounter Books, 665 Third Street, Suite 330, San Francisco CA 94107-1951 ($16.95). Tel: 415-538-1460; Tel: 800-786-3839 (Toll Free); Fax: 415-538-1461. PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Evaluative (142) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Educational Improvement; Elementary Secondary Education; *Political Power; Politics of Education; *Privatization; *Unions IDENTIFIERS American Federation of Labor; *American Federation of Teachers; Congress of Industrial Organizations; *Natibnal Education Association; Shanker (Albert) ABSTRACT The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are among the most powerful interest groups in the nation, affecting the way public policy is made. They are the primary political opponents of all forms of privatization, and overwhelmingly support Democrat candidates for public office. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 is devoted to the history of teachers' unions. Chapter 3 explains the NEA and AFT political and social agendas. Chapter 4 discusses the way NEA/AFT objectives are implemented. Chapter 5 examines national political operations. Chapter 6 discusses political operations at state and local levels. Chapter 7 analyzes the NEA/AFT opposition to contracting out educational services. Chapter 8 examines the composition of union staff. Chapter 9 tracks union revenues. Chapter 9 analyzes the NEA's dubious accounting practices. Chapter 10 challenges the distinction between collective bargaining and political action. Chapter 11 explains the unique role of AFT President Albert Shanker. Chapter 12 assesses the impact of the state teachers' unions on teacher welfare and pupil achievement. Chapter 13 takes up the possible NEA/AFT merger and affiliation with the AFL-CIO and its consequences. Chapter 14 suggests how teachers, parents, and citizens and can address these issues. (Contains 327 references.) (RKJ) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. LA AND U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE Office of Educational Research and Improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS INFORMATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) as This document has been reproduced received from the person or organization 0/t) originating it , c/9- to Minor changes have been made improve reproduction quality TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES in this Points of view or opinions stated INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy BES7 COPY AVALAB THE TEACHER UNIONS How They Sabotage Educational Reform and Why MYRON LIEBERMAN ENCOUNTER BOOKS SAN FRANCISCO 3 Copyright © 2000 by Myron Lieberman All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Encounter Books, 116 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94105. First paperback edition published in 2000 by Encounter Books, an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc., a nonprofit tax exempt corporation. First published in 1999 by The Free Press. Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com Cover design by Andrea DuFlon. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper). Manufactured in the United States. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lieberman, Myron, 1919 The teacher unions: how they sabotage educational reform and why / Myron Lieberman. cm. Includes bibliographical referencesand index. ISBN 1-893554-21-X (pb) 1. Teacher's unionsUnited States.2. National Education Association of the United States.3. American Federation ofTeachers.4. Collective bargainingTeachers- United States.I. Title. LB2844.53.U6L56 2000 331.88'113711'0973DC21 00-2982 4 CIP 109 876 5 4 32; 1 This book is dedicated to CHARLENE K. HAAR 5 CONTENTS Author's Note ix Preface to the First Edition xi 1. Introduction: Why This Book? 1 2. The Takeoff 10 3. NEA/AFT Objectives 30 4. Bargaining with the NEA/AFT 49 5. Union Political Operations 69 6. State Teacher Unions 95 7. The War against Competition and Contracting Out 116 8. Education's Gravy Train 132 9. Paying the Bills: NEA/AFT Revenues 158 10. Free Riders or Forced Political Passengers? 180 11. AFT President Albert Shanker: Visionaryor Union Apologist? 200 12. Takeoff Promises, Landing Realities 217 13. NEA/AFT Merger: Teachers in the AFL-CIO 246 14. What Is to Be Done? 260 Acknowledgments 285 Appendix A. NEA-PAC: A Commentary 286 Appendix B. Procedures for Estimating NEA/AFT Income 288 Appendix C. NEA Contributions, 1993-94 to 1997-98 292 Appendix D. Rankings by Expenditures, State Teacher Union PACs 296 Notes 298 Index 310 vi LIST OF TABLES 2.1NEA Membership, August 31, 1998 25 2.2AFT Membership, 1998 26 3.1Caucuses of NEA Members 38 4.1State Teacher Bargaining Laws 50 4.2NEA Support for UniServ, 1999-2000 54 5.1NEA-PAC Expenditures Compared with Other PACs, 1983-1998 72 5.2NEA Campaign Priority Classification 75 5.3NEA and AFT Political Contributions for 1998 Election Cycle 85 5.4NEA Budget, Objective Four, Strategic Priority Six, FY 1999-2000 86 6.1Most Effective Midwestern Interests, by Number of States 112 8.1NEA Benefits: Form LM-2, August 31, 1998 136 8.2UniSery Salary Schedule, 1998 141 vii 8.3Union Employees in Rhode Island State Retirement System 154 9.1Estimates of NEA/AFT Income, 1999-2000 159 10.1 Supreme Court Decisions on Chargeability in Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Association 187 FIGURES 2.1NEA Structure, 1999 23 9 viii Author's Note With one major exception, the analysis in the hardcover edition of The Teacher Unions has been confirmed by events since its publication.The exception is the NEA Representative Assembly's rejection in 1997 ofa merger agreement that received overwhelming support in the AFT This was the first time that the delegates to the NEA's annual meeting rejecteda major initia- tive supported by the NEA's executive officers and committees. It should be noted, however, that the delegates who voted against themerger emphasized that they were voting against a specific agreement,not against the concept of merger or a merger agreement that would allay their concerns. At any rate, the Representative Assembly's rejection of themerger agreement bears out my contention that the NEA is a more open union than the AFT On other fronts, I have tried to clarify the terminology used in the hard- cover edition. First of all, I apply the term "union" to any organization that seeks to represent teachers on terms and conditions of employment. This usage may offend the teachers and teacher organizations that emphasize the distinction between "professional association" (good) and "union" (bad), but I hope they will understand the rationale for thisusage. Also, I use the phrase "nonaffiliated union" or "independent union"to refer to teacher organiza- tions that seek to represent teachers on employment matters butare not affil- iated with the NEA or AFT In addition to updating NEA/AFT membership andrevenues and the possiblities of their merger, I have addeda brief discussion of the "new union- ix .4.1 0 ism" espoused by the NEA and especially its promotion of "peer revew" as the cornerstone of its alleged new concern for teacher quality and pupil achievement. This discussion is part of Chapter Fourteen, which now includes a more extended analysisof options open to teachers who seek disaffiliation from the NEA/AFT. I am grateful to Encounter Books for this opportunity to update and rem- edy the errors and deficiencies in the hardcover edition. Preface to the First Edition My first book, Education as a Profession, was published in 1956. It was widely and favorably reviewed in Canada, England, and Australiaas well as the United States. The book was adopted forcourses at several universities and launched a professional career that progressed, in almost linear fashion, to this book. Education as a Profession urged and predicted teacher unionization. Fortwenty years thereafter, my publications continued to support collective bargaining in education. Beginning in the late 1970s, however,my views on this issue began to change. I had embraced teacher bargaining before having had any school dis- trict level experience with it. As my experience with it increased, I realized that my advocacy of teacher bargaining had overlooked several issues pertaining to its desirability as public policy. This fact ledme to read more widely on the sub- ject; as a result, my doubts eventually culminated in the late 1970s in opposi- tion to collective bargaining in public education. The most important reason formy change of position was the realization that collective bargaining in public education is inconsistent with democratic,repre- sentative government. Although the detailsare spelled out in this book, the basis for this conclusion is simple enough: In teacher union bargaining, school board representativesthat is, government officialsnegotiate public policies withone special interest group in a process from which other partiesare excluded. Important as it is, this conclusion was not the only factor inmy change of posi- tion. Thus as I began to question the basic rationale for teacher unions, I also began to take cognizance of other issues that had been ignored when teacher unioniza- tion was becoming institutionalized. For instance,to my knowledge, no one raised any hard questions about the costs of the process, but costs are an important cri- terion for evaluating the efficacy ofany method of dispute settlement. Although my views on teacher unionization have changed a great deal since 1956, much of the analysis that led me to support it remains valid.

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