Teachers Unions Don’t Really Strike for ‘the Kids’

Jason L. RileyThe Wall Street Journal January 23, 2019

When the United Auto Workers walk off the job, no one pretends they care about car buyers.

When the United Auto Workers walk off the job, no one pretends that they are acting in the interests of car buyers. Everyone knows union members want better wages, benefits, working conditions and job protections, and going on strike is an effective way to exert pressure on employers.

The calculation is no different when teachers strike. Unions like the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and their thousands of state and local affiliates exist for the same reason as the UAW: to advance the interests of dues-paying members. Yet striking public school teachers and their union representatives insist they are acting on behalf of the children. We’re expected to believe that the priorities of education workers are perfectly aligned with those of students.

The Los Angeles teachers strike ended Tuesday after six days, and casual observers could be forgiven for thinking that the walkout was all about the kids. Union picketers carried signs that read, “On Strike for Our Students” and “Fund Our Schools / Give L.A. Students the schools they deserve.” A high-school teacher wrote in the Journal last week that he was striking for the sake of his charges: “As a teacher, my loyalty is to my students. We’re fighting this battle for them, and they will be the victors.” In a paid advertisement in Sunday’s New York Times, AFT President Randi Weingarten used similar language. “Everything teachers are demanding would strengthen public schools,” she wrote. The strike is about “ensuring that all public schools have the conditions they need for student success.” Yeah, right.

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