Teacher unions linked to strong SAT, ACT scores

Although teacher unions are frequently accused of being obstacles to education reform, a new study finds a "significant and positive relationship" between the presence of teacher unions and strong state performance among students on SAT and ACT tests.

The study, "Do Teacher Unions Hinder Educational Performance? Lessons Learned from State SAT and ACT Scores," is covered in the Winter 2000 edition of the Harvard Educational Review (Vol. 70, No. 4). The authors, Lala Carr Steelman of the University of South Carolina/Columbia, Brian Powell of Indiana University/Bloomington and Robert M. Carini, also of Indiana University, conclude that states with a greater percentage of teachers represented by unions tend to report higher test performance of their students. "This pattern is surprisingly robust; it holds for both SAT and ACT scores and persists across different model specifications," they write.

The authors note that when they began the study, they expected to find no relationship between teacher unions and measures of educational productivity, such as test scores. "That we found such a strongly consistent positive relationship across so many permutations of analysis should give pause to those who characterize teacher unions as adversaries to educational success and accountability," say the authors.

The study confirms findings of an earlier, similar study conducted by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future in 1996. The focus of that study is the relationship between high, medium and low levels of teacher unionization and student test scores on the SAT college entrance exams and the NAEP fourth-grade reading tests in a state-by-state comparison. Findings of the 1996 study are posted online at www.aft.org/research. Click on "Collective Bargaining" to find "Impact of Teacher Unions on Student Performance."

A New York judge ruled in January that the state's school funding system fails to provide New York City students with a sound education and that the system violates federal civil rights laws because it disproportionately hurts the minority students who make up close to three-quarters of the total student population. State supreme court justice Leland DeGrasse gave the Legislature until Sept. 15, 2001, to come up with an adequate solution. He did not outline a specific remedy or dollar figure for producing a "sound, basic education" but pointed to improvements such as more qualified teachers, smaller class sizes, modern textbooks and improved school facilities.

The judge's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in 1993 by the Campaign for Fiscal Equality, a coalition of groups representing New York City's schoolchildren. The moving force behind the CFE was Robert Jackson, a former member and current staff director of the Public Employees Federation/AFT and president of the community school board.

AFT leaders in New York quickly praised DeGrasse's ruling. We believe that "eliminating the funding gap between the haves and the have-nots will do a great deal to swing open the doors of opportunity for every child," says Alan Lubin, executive vice president of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and an AFT vice president.

United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, also an AFT vice president, says the ruling "validates everything we've been saying" about problems with the current system, adding that it is further evidence of the need to raise the salaries of New York City teachers. "For years, the city's teachers have been arguing that our public school students are shortchanged by the funding process. The question now becomes whether our political leadership at all levels has the moral courage to once and for all give our kids and their schools the resources they need to succeed," she says.

Lubin cautions that this ruling is only the first step in a difficult process of revamping the state's school funding system. "While we strongly support a "leveling up" in funding for New York City and other districts that also are struggling to educate students with inadequate resources," he notes, "the remedy should not--and cannot--come at the expense of other school districts."

L.A. bargains historic pay raise

Fully credentialed teachers and special services personnel would receive an average one-year pay increase of 12 percent under a tentative agreement reached in January between the AFT-affiliated United Teachers-Los Angeles and the district.

The pay hike--the largest one-year increase the local has ever negotiated--"will go a long way toward recruiting and retaining the teachers we need," UTLA president and AFT vice president Day Higuchi told reporters at a press conference announcing the tentative agreement. All raises in the three-year proposal are for the first year; increases for the second and third years will be negotiated at a later date, Higuchi said. "The new salary schedule corrects two long-standing problems at the Los Angeles Unified School District. First, it will raise teachers' pay to levels comparable with the other 46 school districts in L.A. County. Second, it corrects a mid-career "sag" that drives our teachers to better-paying schools just as they are mastering their craft."

The UTLA president also stressed that the proposed contract takes constructive steps toward addressing "the complex challenges that face public education--from picking assignments to eliminating shortages of books and supplies to improving reading scores."

The tentative agreement also seeks to establish a new system of choosing classroom and grade assignments that preserves seniority rights for permanent, credentialed teachers while providing enough flexibility to offer students an equal opportunity to learn from a fully qualified teacher, regardless of what track they are on. The pact also features a "Classroom Bill of Rights" that gives teachers a process to address shortages of books and supplies, as well as unclean classrooms.

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