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Teachers' unions "are standing in the door house of our kids, locking them into failing schools and locking them out of the greatest future they could have."
Among several moments from the first debate of the Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential nomination stood out was the criticism of teachers' unions levelled by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina.
Scott's words, reported by the Center Square in Friday's edition of the Sun-Gazette, stood out because they are right.
We recognize that teachers -- and everyone who works for a living -- deserves to earn a fair wage or salary and we recognize that, historically, collective bargaining and unions have contributed, in part, to better pay for many Americans.
But labor unions in the public sector have also fought for seniority-based job security measures that hinder school districts and police departments in their ability to fire bad teachers and bad police officers. In many cases these seniority-based policies have further chained public institutions into promoting mediocre teachers and police officers instead of the most promising and most dedicated.
Efforts to reform the public-sector unions have been slow and faced considerable opposition. In the case of schools, efforts to offer alternatives -- whether they be charter schools or voucher programs -- have also faced daunting opposition.
An unrelenting fight to prevent school districts from firing bad teachers paired with an unrelenting fight to prevent families from moving their children into schools that can fire bad teachers.
It certainly sounds to us like teachers' unions today are locking our children into failing schools.