Special Interest

"Terry focuses on teachers’ unions and their influence on education policy in this country. His book presents the facts on how the unions operate and what their sphere of influence is. I think that people will be shocked by some of the information in the book about political involvement of teachers’ unions. Understanding teachers’ union dynamics helps us understand why we are where we are as a country. I probably have very different views from Dr Moe on teachers’ unions, but I do think his book sheds some light on the political dynamics that shape education policy in this country. I think there is a general perception that teachers’ unions spend a lot of time and their money on professional development. I think people are shocked when they find out how much money unions are spending on the political process. I understand why they are doing that – their job, ultimately, is to protect the rights, privileges and pay of their members. Being an influential player in the political arena enables unions to influence laws and policies that are going to affect your members. But everyday people in the grocery store may not know the extent to which that happens and how massive their influence is. People ask me, “How can we change teachers unions to make them more reform-oriented?” I think that is the wrong focus. Teachers’ unions are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing – maximising the pay, privileges and priorities of their members. They’re doing a great job of that. I don’t believe that we should deny teachers the right to be well represented. I think we just need some balance. We need to create a national organised interest group – with as much or more heft than teachers’ unions – to advocate on behalf of kids. I think that’s the way to solve the problem. There are three main aspects to our policy agenda. First is human capital – making sure there is a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal leading every school. The second is choice and competition. We think it is incredibly important to never have a circumstance where a family feels like they are trapped in a failing school without options and opportunities for their kids. The last agenda item is accountability for every child and every dollar – governance systems that are better able to help kids live up to their potential and make sure that we are spending our education dollars in the most highly impactful way. That’s a great question. One of the challenges reformers face is that people don’t see how the failures of our public education system impact on them. The modern global marketplace requires a well-functioning public education system. Businesses need a well-educated workforce. Property values hinge on the quality of local public schools. A sound public education system is a way to combat crime in your community. So even people that may think they are insulated from the weaknesses in our public education system, their lives and livelihoods are negatively impacted because we don’t have a public education system that serves all kids well. We’re not going to get real sweeping reform until every citizen understands that having a poorly performing public education system means that we all lose. August 17, 2011. Updated: May 4, 2018 Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected] Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you've enjoyed this interview, please support us by donating a small amount ."