蜜桃影视

Mike Antonucci鈥檚 Union Report appears most Wednesdays; see the full archive

Teacher union officers and activists had a lot to say in 2018 鈥� and others had a lot to say about them. Here鈥檚 the 10 most memorable teacher union quotes of 2018, in countdown order:

10: 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at it as a scare tactic.鈥� 鈥�Marina Heinz, vice president of the Battle Ground Education Association, responding to the news that the school board voted to stop paying teachers while they are on strike. (September 11, )

9: 鈥淟ook, I don鈥檛 want to say the teachers unions are doomed at the Supreme Court in the Janus case before it鈥檚 even been argued. And it鈥檚 a complicated case and the justices could come down in a variety of ways. And the Supreme Court sometimes surprises. But 鈥� the AFT filed their amicus brief in the case last week, and, well, they cite Valerie Strauss鈥� reporting in support of their argument. So, yeah, they are probably doomed.鈥� 鈥擜ndrew Rotherham. (January 22, )

8: 鈥淸The Republican Party鈥檚] promotion of divisive issues threatens to return this country to a time of legal segregation, back alley abortions, and the robber barons of the 19th century.鈥� 鈥擩oshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, which apparently has no Republican members. (September-October 2018, )

7: “The [Oakland Education Association] is taking out more than $100 a month from our paychecks and then they鈥檙e throwing it at politicians like Gavin Newsom. This state is what it looks like to have Democrats running everything and we have more homeless people than anywhere. This school district is exactly how the Democrats have made it.鈥� 鈥擠avid Byrd, an Oakland High School teacher who participated in a wildcat sick-out not sanctioned by his local teachers’ union. (December 11, )

6: 鈥淚 think people are incredibly protective of the profession. Look, I get it. But it鈥檚 not enough to say we only want it one way.鈥� 鈥擩ahana Hayes, 2016 National Teacher of the Year and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, describing her differences with the Connecticut Education Association over an alternative teacher certification program that she supports and the union opposes. (October 3, )

5: 鈥淲e won鈥檛 get far by labeling people freeloaders.鈥� 鈥擩ohn Stocks, National Education Association executive director, speaking to the union鈥檚 Representative Assembly on . (More at )

4: 鈥淢embers may be asked to show up for rallies, phonebank, knock doors, or have their photo in the union newsletter 鈥� but they鈥檙e not part of making the strategy. When members are treated like a faucet that leaders can turn on or off for effect, they鈥檙e not really being organized, just mobilized. People won鈥檛 stay involved for long if they don鈥檛 have real input.鈥� 鈥擜lexandra Bradbury, editor and co-director of Labor Notes. (March 30, )

3: 鈥淣JEA spends a lot of time talking about the importance of social justice and the evils of institutional racism. However, the shallow and hollow rhetoric has been exposed as meaningless with the recent decision to support burdening the people and students of Trenton with a dubious charter school that has been judged by even charter proponents as unacceptably poor.鈥� 鈥擭aomi Johnson-Lafleur, president of the Trenton Education Association, a local affiliate of the New Jersey Education Association. NJEA opposed the closing of a poorly performing charter school in Trenton because it was unionized. (March 30, )

2: 鈥淲e鈥檙e receiving numerous reports about [Clark County Education Association] attempting to restrain the rights of members to choose the union for them, or to choose to not be a member of a union. Upon receiving those reports, we decided to advise the members of their rights to withdraw from a union if they so choose.鈥� 鈥擝rian Lee, executive director of the Nevada State Education Association, which suddenly became concerned with teachers鈥� resignation rights after its Las Vegas affiliate seceded. (July 5, )

1: 鈥淢any a naive newcomer goes to a union meeting and dares ask a question that is taken by leadership as a challenge; the newcomer is often patronized, ignored, disparaged, or actively marginalized. Bargaining teams disappear for months behind closed doors and then present a fully bargained tentative agreement to be ratified 鈥� take it or leave it. Membership meetings in many unions are dominated by one-way leadership reports or gripe sessions, where leaders are expected to take member concerns up the ladder of administration for them. It doesn鈥檛 take too many of these cues before rank-and-file members stop coming around.鈥� 鈥擡llen David Friedman, former UniServ staffer with Vermont NEA. (May/June 2018, )

Other recent highlights from 蜜桃影视鈥檚 education coverage across 2018:

鈼徛�Commentary: Our 19 most shared essays from 2018.

鈼徛�Research: 11 charts that changed the way we thought about schools last year.

鈼徛�Interviews: 11 important conversations we had with education leaders in 2018.

鈼徛�Investigations: Our 7 most popular education longreads last year.

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