Monday, June 07, 2010
New "Public" Enemy No. 1
POLITICO'S Maggie Haberman (my erstwhile Post colleague) and Ben Smith report on the bipartisan backlash against public employee unions. Two factors are driving this: 1) The fiscal challenges all states are facing -- partly created by overly-generous benefit and pension plans; and 2) The education reform pushed by the administration that is giving states leeway to demand work-rules changes and concessions from teachers unions.
Key point here: Public employees are no longer perceived as overworked and underpaid. Instead, they are seen as having much more privileged existence as their counterparts in the private sector. In New York, the teachers unions ganging up on charter schools -- which have produced better academic results than the traditional public schools -- has caused a revolt among minority parents who see charters as a way up for their children.
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Key point here: Public employees are no longer perceived as overworked and underpaid. Instead, they are seen as having much more privileged existence as their counterparts in the private sector. In New York, the teachers unions ganging up on charter schools -- which have produced better academic results than the traditional public schools -- has caused a revolt among minority parents who see charters as a way up for their children.
Labels: organized labor, public employee unions, teachers unions
