Teacher's Unions Consider Joining

After being in the school system for 27 1/2 years I have seen many times when being a member of the union was potentially a good thing. In general I tend to not like the fact that you may actually need to be a member of such unions, but I did maintain my membership all the years I was in the school system It did become important to me, but I have seen times when it was dramatically important to others. My wife was the president of the union for the city for a number of years and I also heard stories from her about reasons to join. Many teachers do not join because of the cost. The dues have been going up through the years and it seems you get very little benefit back. It rarely seems they are able to get much in the way of salary increases.

One time I had finished my doctorate degree and the school system did not want to pay me for the increase based on my actual date of receiving the doctoral degree, the union was able to work it out that I was paid from the date I received the doctorate which amounted to a few hundred dollars extra which was pretty nice. This was ok, but not as serious as what happened to a teacher across the hall from me. He heard two students in his high school class about to fight, they got up from their seats and started toward the door. The first student got out the door, but the second student was stopped when the teacher caught his shoulder and shirt. The shirt started to tear and the student turned around quickly and decked the teacher. The teacher fell back against a laboratory table and then to the floor, the student was on top of him punching him. Now the teacher was starting to swing back and at that instant another teacher walked in and sees the teacher swinging from the floor at the student. She hollers out "You can't hit that student." and he holds back and the fight basically stops. Now the office is contacted and the two students are removed to the office, but the teacher is in trouble for defending himself. Incident reports are filled out, referrals are filled out, and an investigation is started. The first student is suspended for 5 days because they left the classroom with the intention of fighting, the second student that decked the teacher is suspended for 10 days for fighting and the teacher is suspended for 6 months without pay while the investigation continues.

When the student that hit the teacher returns to school after 10 days the student is placed in my classroom and I am not informed about the problems related to this student and although I know about the problems I am required to take the student and naturally treat him fairly which I certainly intended to do anyway. I did inform the student that I have heard about the problem he had with the other teacher and that I will not tolerate any other situation that puts my job in jeopardy. I inform the union of the situation just in case. I go to the principal and tell him that I know about this student and that I will treat him fairly. He makes no apology for not talking to me previously.

It only takes a few days and the student decides that he is going to cause me problems also. I do not get upset but immediately have him removed and the school agrees to totally move him to another school. This student did eventually end up in an "alternative" school program, but he potentially could have damaged the life of many teachers along the way. Having the union aware of the situation provided a level of protection. Such situations can happen in an instant and you may need some advocate on your side. Even though the union is also not going to defend you if you do something wrong, they can help you if what you have done borders on the edge.

The teacher did get his job back, but he joined the union. All the while he was out without pay he also had no benefits and had legal fees that were involved. His situation stimulated 7 other teachers to join the union. It is important that you do what you personally think is right for you, but I think it is important. In most cases you have a certain amount of personal insurance that is provided by the union to cover such situations.