Shocking News: Teachers Unions Oppose Differential Pay

hat Tip: Edspresso. Massachussets Governor and 2008 Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney apparently forgot that teachers unions don't like differential pay and will muster their Democratic supporters in the legislature when such a proposal is made. As the Boston Globe reported last week:

DURING A FORUM sponsored by the Massachusetts Teachers Association this week, four candidates for governor offered a chorus of criticism of the Romney administration's education policies. The message resonated with the union members in the crowd. But it hardly gives a full picture of the governor's approach to education reform, and doesn't fully explain why he has met with limited success.

Politically, Republican Governors of Democratic states like Massachussets, Maryland and California have all come learn some object lessons of the political power of the teachers unions. Indeed if any school reform or choice program is to succeed on anything other than a minimal level, much work will have to be done to overcome the obstacles presented by the teachers unions.

The first thing that should be done is to realize and publicize that there is a dramatic difference between a front line teacher and the teachers union on many matters. Using basic wedge politics, leaders like Romney, Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich and others can drive home a point with the unions and their rank and file. If unions are there to protect your work conditions and advocate for better pay, when then are they standing in the way of better pay for teachers? The answer is of course, that the unions don't want to have to explain to their members why math and science teachers get more money, or why teachers who work in teh worst schools get paid better. Making such a case is uncomfortable for the unions and that is exactly what school choice and reform advocates need to be saying--loudly.

The second thing that Romney needs to do is call each and every legislator who stands in the way of his proposal to task in a public manner. It is highly unlikely that these men and women are going to support him in his electoral bids in the future, so there is little to lose. Romney and others have the power of the bully pulpit and they need to use it. An informed public is not going to stand for obstructionist legislators when the education of their children is on the line. Romney has a good plan and it should be implemented. those who stand in the way should be called on the public carpet and be made to explain why they oppose the idea.

Governors are elected to get things done by the entire state and when it comes to education, waiting for the politicians to get their head out is a price to high to contemplate.