Reject union-controlled teacher tenure

I am responding to Dana Carmichael’s recent editorial letter where she defended the practice of teacher tenure. Both Mrs. Carmichael and her husband taught my children over the years, and I can vouch for their professionalism and their dedication to educating children. However, I believe her loyalty to her fellow teachers prevents her from realizing that not all teachers are as dedicated and capable as she.

Additionally, Mrs. Carmichael makes an appeal to ignorance by claiming teachers rarely get fired; therefore, all teachers are good and all parents are satisfied. The education system Mrs. Carmichael defends is built on a foundation of strategically applied force: We force all citizens to pay for it, we force all children up to the age of 16 to participate in it, and we force parents without influence or gumption to accept whatever teacher their children are assigned.

We also force local school boards to hire only state-certified teachers, which means retired professionals who are subject-matter experts in math, science, literature and other courses are prevented from giving valuable service to our community as school teachers.

Finally, Mrs. Carmichael’s preferred system forces cash-strapped local school boards to retain marginally performing teachers or risk expensive wrongful termination lawsuits.

We can easily test Mrs. Carmichael’s defense of the public education status quo by applying the same practices to all service providers. When we consider forcing customers to pay for any service (like health care, haircuts, baby-sitting, tax preparation, etc.) without giving them the opportunity to seek superior services outside those provided by the state and endorsed by a union, we see Mrs. Carmichael’s argument breaks down. If it is preferable for citizens to choose their hair dressers, why shouldn’t parents be free to choose who teaches their children?

The success of public education is inversely proportional to the level of socialism that continues to creep into the system. The only way for the U.S. to regain our lost education-standing in the global community is to reject the union-controlled practices of teacher tenure and grant parents the choice of who will teach their children.

While I will argue Mrs. Carmichael is a talented and valuable teacher in our community, her defense of teacher tenure is not economically feasible. If we continue the practice of teacher tenure, we do so at our own peril.

Joe Coco lives in Whitefish.