TV debate places union friends and foes in a blame game
The head of a national teachers union and the former U.S. Secretary of Education squared off on a televised debate program this week over the question of whether teachers unions are to blame for failing schools.
Called Intelligence Squared, the program airs on NPR and Bloomberg TV next week, but the transcript (a full 45 pages) of Tuesday’s teachers union-themed debate is online now. The program had six panelists debate the power of teachers unions to influence what goes on in classrooms and how much responsibility they should have for the outcomes. Going by the audience votes at the end of the show, the anti-union panelists swung undecided voters to their side — at the beginning of the program, 43 percent of the audience thought unions were to blame for failing schools and by the end 68 percent did.
Among the three pro-union panelists, there was a California superintendent, a Massachusetts elementary school teacher, and Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers. The opposition included a Lo
Called Intelligence Squared, the program airs on NPR and Bloomberg TV next week, but the transcript (a full 45 pages) of Tuesday’s teachers union-themed debate is online now. The program had six panelists debate the power of teachers unions to influence what goes on in classrooms and how much responsibility they should have for the outcomes. Going by the audience votes at the end of the show, the anti-union panelists swung undecided voters to their side — at the beginning of the program, 43 percent of the audience thought unions were to blame for failing schools and by the end 68 percent did.
Among the three pro-union panelists, there was a California superintendent, a Massachusetts elementary school teacher, and Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers. The opposition included a Lo
