Study Finds Unions Improve Teacher Quality, Lead To Lower Dropout Rates

https://ourfuture.org/20151208/study-finds-unions-improve-teacher-quality-high-school-dropout-rates

For years, a lot of money, time, and energy have gone into a national campaign to discredit teachers unions by saying they protect bad teachers and do nothing to add value to our system of public education. Whole organizations have been created to advance this campaign, and prominenindividuals have staked their national reputations on the belief that unions are not good for education.

However, a recent report reveals this common critique of teachers unions is based on “myths.”
The report uses empirical data analysis to correct the record on the effects of unions on the teaching workforce and, in turn, on an important measure of student education attainment: high school dropout rates.

On three basic questions – whether unions protect bad teachers from being fired, harm the quality of the teacher workforce long term, and do little to advance student outcomes – the answers to all three were “no.”

The report, “The Myth of Unions’ Overprotection of Bad Teachers: Evidence from the District-Teacher Matched Panel Data on Teacher Turnover,” which is dated October 5, 2015 and barely surfaced online the following month, has gotten virtually no attention in media outlets despite its startlingly contrarian findings.

Nevertheless, the report has gotten a second life in progressive circles, likely due to concerns over the U.S. Supreme Court case Friedrichs v. the California Teachers Association that could significantly harm the finances of unions should the verdict (due in early 2016) go to the plaintiff. The report also seems relevant to more recent developments in Chicago, where teachers are poised to vote on whether or not to strike in early 2016.