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During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of American politics, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see. Syllabus: http://gov20h.blogspot.com/2023/08/draft-introduction-to-american-politics.html

Friday, October 23, 2009

Teaching in Texas

Re: Class discussion on the existence (or lack thereof) of teachers' unions in Texas

A quick Google search reveals:

1) There are teachers' unions in Texas

2) The unions have much less power than their counterparts in other states -
They lack influence because collective bargaining and striking are illegal for public employees in Texas, as the Texas Government Code Section 617.002 states, “An official of the state or of a political subdivision of the state may not enter into a collective bargaining contract with a labor organization regarding wages, hours, or conditions of employment of public employees.”


Relatedly:

A column by David Brooks in the Thursday New York Times explores some of the recent conflicts between teachers' unions and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He writes on unions "dogmatically trying to keep bad teachers in the classrooms" but also implies there is evidence of "perestroika...within the education establishment" regarding education reform.


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