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Opportunity Lost: Teachers’ Union Reform - Past, Present & Future, Edward C. Klein Iii

Edward C Klein III

Teachers’ unions, in their current form, truly took shape in the tumult of the 1960’s. Built upon the model of industrial unionism first codified in the private sector with the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, and later extended to the public sector through state law, teachers’ unions simultaneously embraced the language of the Civil Rights movement and the classic labor-management dichotomy. Thus, teachers’ unions have come to be a powerful influence on American public education for over 50 years, representing approximately three-quarters of all public school teachers today.

However, the direction of teacher’s unions has not always been clear, …