WEA initiative analysis: 12,000 new union members, little improvement in public schools

The News Tribune explains why WEA backed Initiative 1351 is great unions, bad for education. From TNT,

“If adopted, the measure would require hiring 12,000 new teachers plus a legion of administrators, librarians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, custodians, “parent involvement coordinators” and, well, you get the idea.

It’s a lot of money, a lot of new positions, and – not incidentally – a lot of new union members. It’s also a lot of statutory rigidity. For a group that rails about the prescriptive nature of standardized testing and rigid accountability standards, the union would happily impose a fiscal straitjacket on local school districts, micromanaging staffing and compensation policies.”