Teachers' Unions Fight Innovation, Customization, and Variety
(p. A27) Washington - A Wisconsin court rejected a high-profile lawsuit by the state's largest teachers' union last month seeking to close a public charter school that offers all its courses online on the ground that it violated state law by depending on parents rather than on certified teachers to educate children. The case is part of a national trend that goes well beyond virtual schooling: teachers' unions are turning to the courts to fight virtually any deviation from uniformity in public schools.
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There is a universal American desire for customization and variety in goods and services, and education must respond to that demand, whether the unions like it or not.
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This debate, like the ones over many other education issues, is fundamentally about who gets to have power. Yet the power the teachers' unions now wield will be fleeting if public schools do not become more responsive to parents.
An industry cannot survive by rushing to court every time a new idea threatens even a small slice of its market share. Instead, maintaining, and even broadening, support for public schools means embracing more diversity in how we provide public education and who provides it.
For the full commentary, see:
Andrew J. Rotherham. "Virtual Schools, Real Innovation." The New York Times (Friday, April 7, 2006): A27.
(Note: ellipses added.)
