The Empire Strikes Back

A few days ago, I wrote a post in which I praised the first editorial I have ever read by the founders of KIPP that plainly spoke the brutal truth about labor flexibility in schools:

"At KIPP, we have the ability to hire, fire and reward principals and teachers based on their students' progress and achievement.  If we are going to hold all public schools accountable for their results -- and we should -- we need to grant this same power to all public schools.  Otherwise, public schools will not meet the goal of providing a world-class education to every child."

Yesterday, we learned that teachers at two KIPP schools are planning on unionizing.  In their letter to KIPP, the teachers write:

"We must feel secure in our employment so that concerns as well as ideas can be voiced in a trusting environment."

"Job security" as envisioned and developed by labor unions is probably one of the most damaging ideas of the 20th century.  In its most extreme form, it removes the link of accountability between workers and their managers and, as a result, is a sure-fire path to an ineffective organization.  If competing organizations are not subject to "job security" rules, the disadvantaged organizations will either:

a. Lose customers and eventually cease to exist

b. Significantly moderate their "job security" demands

c. Force the competing organizations to adopt their "job security" demands

I am hoping for (a) or (b). 

Comments

[Macho]

If it's the Green Dot contract, it may not be so bad.