Abstract
Lois Weiner, a life-long teacher, union activist, and professor at New Jersey City University, refuses to let the educational world forget about teachers unions. In this accessible book, written primarily for teachers attempting to reform their own unions, Weiner first explains why teacher unions are critical for transforming schools, and second, why the “potential of teachers unions is not being realized and that they need to be transformed” (p. 10).
The first part of the book is a guide for how teachers can shift their unions from a service model—which envisions teachers unions as a self-interest group—to a social movement union that “functions as connective tissue linking struggles for a just, equitable society—and world—to teachers’ concerns about schools and education” (pp. 42–43). Weiner believes that this transformation is not only necessary for a more equitable school system but also critical for the future survival of the teachers unions themselves. This is because mass mobilization and participatory democracy is a much stronger force than business unionism. Weiner argues that there is no “retreat” back to the old model, where union officials make backroom deals with employers, because neoliberalism has produced social and political conditions that do not make this old model possible. Therefore, teachers unions better shape up or ship out.
There are three take-home points that come out of the first half of the book. First, neoliberalism has ushered in a powerful ideology—what Weiner sees as a “shared political belief” about how society operates. Teachers unions directly contest the foundations of these new beliefs. Second, she asserts that teachers have a unique role within the labor movement as “idea workers” but that teachers unions are losing political ground because they are failing to redefine the purpose of education in social and civic terms. Third, Weiner lays out several steps that are necessary for transforming teachers unions, including more emphasis on the role of caring in teaching and the cultivation of real and meaningful community-school alliances. I was particularly convinced by this latter point that together teachers and parents make powerful allies in the face of standardized testing, school take-overs, and shifts to remedial vocational education.
The second half of the book is a series of articles Weiner published from 1976 to 2012, discussing the politics of teachers unions domestically and internationally. Although this section of the book feels a bit more disjointed, a major theme throughout is the conservative tendencies of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Educational Association (NEA) and how these two unions negatively influence the international teachers unions’ movement.
Weiner also briefly discusses the racial barriers to cultivating teacher-parent relationships; however, this issue could have used more analysis throughout the book. I would have been especially interested in her concrete advice about how unions can overcome the historical mistrust that has been cultivated between communities of color and union activists. For example, how did the Chicago Teachers Union (an important ray of hope throughout the book) overcome these tensions? Nonetheless, Weiner persuasively argues why the “occupation” of unions by teachers committed to social and racial justice is necessary to counter neoliberal educational reforms.
Labor studies students wanting a brief introduction to teacher unionism might be interested in reading this book, in particular for its analysis of the relationship between AFT and NEA, the role of unions in educational reforms such as No Child Left Behind, and recent attempts to reform teachers unions domestically. However, the book is clearly meant for teacher-activists. As Weiner writes, “If you care about social justice in education, you have a very important stake in not only the continued existence of teachers unions but also in their transformation” (p. 12). Her book offers several concrete suggestions on how this transformation may take place.