Why I quit the teachers union.

A few years back I was accused of helping my 1st graders cheat on a standardized test. I did not, the accusations were absurdly weak, not to mention there was absolutely no motive to do so.

I was accused by another teacher in the union who had an unrelated beef with me and she took her complaint directly to the district administration, bypassing the chain of command. I called my union rep who set me up with our regional legal representative. The claim was I was giving specific answers to 1st graders on a math test. Well, my students are ELL and I was helping them understand the questions which were written in English. Not give them answers. No where in the testing manual (we were untrained, of course) did it say you could not assist with that. Plus my two paras were in the room the whole time. The were never questioned during the administration's investigation.

Long story short, the representative didn't press anything, didn't defend me well nor argue the process, and it resulted in a month of missed pay. I was not terminated but "the punishment" did not fit "the crime".

I consulted a private employment attorney after the fact and she said something that blew my mind. Here it is:

The union attorney has to represent both you and the complainant. Why would he fall on his sword for "the accused" which would make the complainant equally as upset. He decided to not make waves and look out for your best interests because that would have directly gone against another union member. He didn't want to pick sides so he essentially stayed out of it.

If I had to do it again I would have hired the private attorney from day one, and when I asked the union rep why he didn't press the case he gave me a canned answer about "it's best to let these things play out naturally". So the following year I quit the union. For a decade I paid dues to a group that gave me no protection nor benefit of the doubt.

Be very careful who you trust. And remember the union lawyer is their for whoever pays most of their bills, not for you.

Submitted February 25, 2020 at 11:03PM by alltime_pf_guru https://ift.tt/2w94cYc