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Most public school teachers are unequivocally ambivalent about unions and education reform and have become more so over the past five years, according to a nationwide survey released here last week by Education Sector.
鈥淭his survey shows that, in theory, teachers are open to reforms, but when it comes to their own jobs they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, no鈥攕top,鈥� 鈥� said Elena Silva, a policy analyst at the Washington-based think tank, during a discussion forum held here to accompany the release. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a little all over the place.鈥�
The report, is based on a survey of about 1,000 randomly selected teachers last fall by the New York City-based Farkas Duffett Research Group. It was a follow-up to a 2003 survey the company conducted for the opinion-research organization Public Agenda.
Views on Unions
On the one hand, according to the latest report, the number of teachers calling unions 鈥渁bsolutely essential鈥� has risen 8 percentage points since 2003, to 54 percent.
On the other hand, the proportion of teachers who agreed that the working conditions and salaries of teachers would be much worse without collective bargaining fell 7 percentage points, to 74 percent, from the 2003 survey.
About half the teachers surveyed said their unions had protected teachers who shouldn鈥檛 be in the classroom. But about the same percentage also said they preferred that their union continue to protect teachers鈥� jobs and compensation, rather than put more emphasis on student achievement and teacher quality.
There鈥檚 a reason for such disconnects, said Michelle A. Rhee, the chancellor of the District of Columbia school system: 鈥淭here is no one monolithic teacher voice.鈥�
鈥淩eading through the report, I felt like I was kind of reading through my own life right now,鈥� Ms. Rhee said at the forum. She said she gets alternating, conflicting comments from teachers at 27 schools in Washington that are being restructured because of a failure to make adequate yearly progress as required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
One teacher might tell her, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 change anything鈥攖his is a good school,鈥� while the next says, 鈥淭hank you for doing this鈥攑lease don鈥檛 relent,鈥� the chancellor said.
That variety of opinion also ran through teachers鈥� attitudes toward the kinds of education reform initiatives that unions are sometimes blamed for blocking.
Among the teachers surveyed, for example, 48 percent said the outstanding teachers at their schools should be especially rewarded. But 40 percent said that although there were outstanding teachers at their schools, their stellar performance shouldn鈥檛 be rewarded.
In a telephone interview, National Education Association President Reg Weaver said he had not read the study in depth. The head of the 3.2 million-member union said, however, that 鈥渋ndividuals have the right to express themselves,鈥� and said critics should not 鈥減aint unions with a broad brush.鈥�
Some Agreement
Still, teachers spoke with greater uniformity on certain topics. Among the teachers surveyed, 80 percent said they favored financial incentives for teachers working in tough neighborhoods with low-performing schools鈥攗p 10 percentage points since 2003. And 64 percent of teachers opposed the idea of using test scores to measure performance and determine pay鈥攁n increase of 8 percentage points over five years ago.
鈥淭here is consistent resistance to using standardized tests鈥� to evaluate teachers, said Ann M. Duffett, one of the researchers who conducted the survey, which had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 鈥淵ou hear their suspicions; they鈥檙e not convinced it can be done fairly.鈥�
Amid all the crossfire of opinion, suggested Greg Ahrnsbrak, a teacher and union representative at Denver鈥檚 Bruce Randolph School who participated in the forum, teachers need to acknowledge reality.
鈥淩eform is coming,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a bus鈥攊t鈥檚 coming right at us. You鈥檙e going to be on it or you鈥檙e going to be under it.鈥�
