DEMOCRATS VS. CHILDREN:

California school reform - Who's really for the kids? (Peter Schrag, July 14, 2004, Sacramento Bee)
In a more reasonable world, SB 1419 would have never been proposed, let alone passed. The bill, which was signed by former Gov. Gray Davis two years ago, severely restricts the ability of local school districts to contract with private providers for transportation and other non-academic school services.

As summarized by the independent School Services of California, "the limitations in the [law] ... make it virtually impossible for school districts to find the best-qualified and least expensive service to provide education support services." The cost to local districts - depending on whose numbers you use - could be as much as $300 million a year.

Now California Republicans, backed by a coalition of educational groups - the state school boards association and the state's school administrators, among others - are pushing hard to make repeal of the law a part of the state's budget negotiations.

By itself, the issue is not a big deal. SB 1419 is a job protection bill. But even the $300 million cost cited by the repeal proponents is far less than 1 percent of the state's total school spending. In many districts, if not most, the money saved is likely to go right on the bargaining table for teacher salaries and other employees.

But it's another symbol of how the clout of public employee unions, in this case the California School Employees Association, drains discretion from districts and money from crucial school programs and, as such ought to be an embarrassment to Democrats who profess a sincere desire to help kids.
You can't serve the interests of unions and of the students--you've got to choose between them. Democrats chose Big Labor long ago.

MORE:
Of course, it could be worse, A Union's Grip Stifles Learning: Teaching Posts Inherited, Sold in Mexico's Public Schools (Mary Jordan, July 14, 2004, Washington Post)

Jose Luis Gonzalez, the principal of a local middle school, received an unusual letter from a group of ninth-graders last semester. "Our teacher doesn't show up to class," the children wrote, begging him to replace their math instructor.

But Gonzalez said he was powerless to take action even though the teacher, Carlos Ignacio Loyda, was working another job and missed up to three-quarters of his classes some months. Loyda's position was protected by Mexico's powerful teachers union, Gonzalez said.

"It hurts the children," said Gonzalez, 55, a wiry, soft-spoken man who was a teacher for 17 years. Union clout protects teachers who don't "fulfill their obligations," he said. No-show teachers are such a huge problem that the state education department has printed posters reminding teachers that "attendance is essential."

A report by the World Economic Forum ranked the quality of education in Mexico 74th out of 102 nations surveyed, just behind Cameroon. The country's dismal marks contribute to lives of closed opportunities. Half of Mexico's population is trapped in poverty, illiteracy is endemic in rural areas, and the average child abandons school at 14. Success for millions of Mexicans means sneaking into the United States to mow lawns or pick apples.

Many Mexicans blame their teachers, or more precisely the National Education Workers Union, which represents 1.3 million educators. The trade union, the largest in Latin America, has created what critics describe as a monstrous system of perks and patronage, including a practice that allows teaching positions to be inherited and sold for cash.