Teacher Unions and Parent Involvement
Executive Summary
Like other terms in the debates over education reform,
"parent involvement" means different things to different
parties. Charlene K. Haar provides an analysis and
clarification of this important concept in Teacher Unions
and Parent Involvement, a publication in the EPI Series on
Teacher Unions. In addition to analyzing NEA/AFT policies
with respect to parents, Haar analyzes the treatment of
parents in collective bargaining contracts between school
boards and local affiliates of the National Education
Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
The teacher unions discourage parental involvement
whenever it is not based on acceptance of teacher practice
or competence. Despite union praise for "parent
involvement," Haar finds that:
- not one NEA/AFT policy is based on the idea that
parents have a unique interest in school affairs;
- the two unions agree that volunteers (who are mainly
parents) should not be utilized in ways that reduce union
employees or union work;
- the NEA/AFT's three highest legislative priority is
opposition to legislation that would empower parents to
choose the schools that would educate their children.
Most disappointing, notes Haar, is that the National PTA
(Parent Teacher Association) has adopted a policy of
neutrality on teacher bargaining issues, no matter how much
they affect parent rights and concerns. PTA policy does not
address parental concerns over such issues as parental
grievance procedures, grading policies, teacher obligations
to help students after class, and several other issues on
which school boards are required to bargain. She reveals
that, unfortunately, "PTA domination by the teacher unions
is subtle but highly effective," to the detriment of
parents.
In addition, Haar's findings show that the National PTA
often serves as the front organization for the coalitions of
public school organizations which contend that parents and
students are better off under the current government
monopoly of education.
Haar points out that "parents working for school choice
or trying to terminate incompetent teachers are just as
'involved' as PTA parents and teacher unions involved in
preserving the status quo in public schools"; however, these
kinds of parent involvement are characterized as "meddling"
or by some other pejorative, but not "parent involvement."
Charlene K. Haar is President of the Education Policy
Institute and Research Associate, Social Philosophy and
Policy Center.
Publications in the EPI Series on Teacher Unions
are available at a cost of $6.00 each through the Education
Policy Institute, PMB 294, 4401-A Connecticut Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20008-2322 202/244-7535, Fax 202/244-7584
http://www.educationpolicy.org
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