8 comments

1. I happened to belong to a union when I first began to work in the industry in which I spent 35 years and witnessed first hand how they operate. I paid my dues, walked the picket line during a work stoppage, etc. as a faithful member. But it was during the strike that they sent someone from the “international” labor entity to give our local a hyped up stump lecture about how to “break the company” and finished his speech by prompting the members to vote for a certain Democratic senator, that I began to see through their entire scheme. And, BTW, any bargaining session that took place whenever a contract was due for expiration always, ALWAYS pushed for more money instead of other desirable benefits such as work uniforms, insurance improvements and the like. Why? Because more money meant higher dues to the union from each pay check.

   Further, although the formation of collective bargaining units grew out of abuses caused by big businesses during the 19th Century and were probably necessary initially, almost everything the unions stood for have been replaced by labor laws over the past century or two – except one item, seniority. And it’s seniority, in part, that protects some of the worst performers in any occupation, teaching or otherwise.

   Beyond seniority and the unions per se protect the teachers who spew some of the worst Leftist propaganda perpetrated in part by the DOE and instigated by teaching universities. Hopefully, the current administration can reverse some of things.

   Finally, whether or not anyone wants to admit it, collective bargaining grew out of the 19th socialist movement. A teamster might punch you if you called him a socialist or communist, but like it or not, that’s effectively what he is.

   As far as I am concerned all of the above would lead to Machen spinning in high rotation. Maybe things are not quite so prominent where you teach, but I have grandchildren who are recent high school graduates and the things they had been told in their school’s classrooms would make your head spin.

   (RSC – sorry, I didn’t intend to turn your post into a pro/con argument. Tony, likewise.)

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   • George, I appreciate you sharing your perspective and history. I do not want to turn this argument into a pro/con either.

     I’m sorry to hear your union experience. When I worked retail my union fought long and hard for a bargain that only helped our medical insurance, not wages. I do this simply to provide a counter example.

     With the idea that unions grew out of the socialist movement, I don’t think that is such a huge issue. As Christians we can openly acknowledge that good can sometimes come from things far from being righteous.

     As I said in a comment below in response to RSC, I can certainly see the issues with unions, but I have seen much good too. (Not just for seniority!)

     I certainly agree some things in the classrooms make our heads spin. I have heard stories of politics shoved down children’s throats on both sides of the political aisle that are nauseating. Or history or science teachers (again on both sides of the aisle) that prefer today to teach their view of history or science instead of the facts. We certainly need reform, but I’m not confident the “reform” proposed by this administration will help us along. Either way God is in control of all things, even the state of education. And so I will simply trust him as he continues to work

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2. Yes, Machen was spot on in every aspect of the public education conundrum he foresaw approaching in our country in his great book. I would add one more event that even he did not anticipate and one that I’m sure would have him rolling in his grave – the unionization of teachers. One of the worst examples of how this has warped and worsened what children learn (or don’t learn) in public schools exists in a major U.S. city, the CTU or Chicago Teachers Union. If there has ever been a worse example of how money and political influence has led to the deterioration of an entity I’d like to know what it is.

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   • As a Christian public school teacher in a union I’m curious for your reasoning. I would agree that of course there are some bad unions or bad apples in the bunch, like any other group or thing that man has. However my union and those of friends in education are simple helpful things, helping ensure fair compensation and benefits for teachers, helping us be protected from parents that try to sue or accuse of the craziest thing (if something wrong did happen a union teacher would still be fired and removed) and helping ensure that administration does not abuse their power.

     Why would teacher unions have Machen roll in his grave?

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     • Ben,

       Machen would spin in his grave because he was a libertarian who opposed the very idea of the Dept of Education. Now we know that he was right. He was harshly critical of the public education establishment of the the 1920s and 30s. Things have not gotten better.

       He would oppose public employee unions (which mostly didn’t exist then) because it is incongruous with public service to be paid by taxpayers and then to threaten work actions in order to extort more money or a shorter work year. Yet, this is what the teachers’ unions have done by funding one political party (who, then, in turn, reciprocates as we’re about to find out via DOGE). The NEA and the AFT are not much more than extensions of the DNC.

       Teachers do need to be compensated fairly and, in most places in 2025, they are but the teachers’ unions have taken public education hostage as we all saw during Covid. They were wrong about everything: masks, distance, closing schools etc. It’s been an educational and social disaster consequences of which will haunt this country for decades.

       Fortunately, parents saw (online) what was happening and not happening in their classrooms and have begun to push back only to be told time and again that their children actually belong to the schools and to sit down and shut up. That is how Gov Youngkin got elected in VA and it’s not a small reason that Trump was re-elected. The unions fuel this mentality.

       They protect incompetent teachers. Look at the NYC public school system. Do you know what they do with incompetent and malevolent teachers? They send them to an empty school to do nothing and to collect a salary because they can’t be fired.

       What have the unions done about the sexual abuse crisis in our schools? Virtually daily a public school teacher, aid, or staffer is charged for sexually assaulting a child. I documented it weeks here in the comments of this essay.

       Just recently:

       1. A teacher hosted a 100 minors at a drinking party. One student got alcohol poisoning.
       2. Here’s a thread of arrests of public school teachers & employees in October alone
       3. November. This account is now doing what LeavePubSchool has been doing for years.
       4. See LeavePubSchool for more

       I get emails almost daily from AFT and AAUP. I see where they land on the issues and none of them have to do with improving actual education of children or students.

       The unions, empowered by the Dept of Education, have done incalculable damage to public education.

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       • I don’t disagree that there are plenty of bad apples in unions, or that unions have made mistakes. With COVID and masks, closing etc, I know Christians still have very differing opinions on how that crisis was handled so I’ll leave that alone.

         I disagree that most teachers are making great wages. In most of the south teachers with decades of experience are making 40k or less. Some states like California compensate well but most of the US is far behind the rest Europe, New Zealand etc in teacher compensation.

         Although many teachers unions are more Democrat leaning (if we look simply at politics) many teachers unions across the country donate huge amounts to Republicans as well.

         Again, if a union extorts money etc which some do they are not operating as they should. But there are many unions that simply seek fair wages. Man of course is sinful and so where there is money sin enters, but in my opinion the good that unions have done outweighs the bad.

         I also see plenty of terrible teachers. Some I know are sadly protected by union lawyers. I agree they should at least get a fair trial but should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I’ve also seen far more cases of good teachers being attacked by parents or administration for pure pettiness, and the union has been able to help protect them legally.

         The unions I know and am a part of are all about improving teachers livelihood and safety so that they can better focus on educating children. In my eyes when applied directly this drastically improves the actual education of students. Teachers do not have to worry about needing multiple outside jobs, fearing retaliation for staying facts in class, or other areas.

         I do not doubt that there has been damage from unions to education and individuals. I would just humbly suggest that much good has been done as well, and we should seek reform.

         An analogy I can think of is that of a denomination that has issues of pastors in sin, abuse, money mismanagement. I would believe in the same situation we would want to fight the abuse, remove those who are hurting those they watch over, and seek a better management of funds. Yet we would not seek to remove the denomination in and of itself.

         Again we probably will disagree here, and I can certainly acknowledge hardship with unions, I just want to voice the good that has come from them as well.

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         • Ben,

           I understand that public school teachers were underpaid for a long time. I understand that they deal with the consequences of the destruction of the family but I should very much like to know about these teachers’ unions who are advocating for actual education because that certainly doesn’t describe the AFT or the NEA, which are the two major teachers’ unions in the USA.

           I should also like to see evidence of teachers’ unions donating to the Republican party. Again, the AFT and NEA are at war with the Rs and have been for decades.

           Can you give us some particulars? That would be very interesting.

         • In regards to Republican donations:

           I looked back at sources I had read months ago. Although it is true that unions (especially smaller unions in say Alabama and Illinois) have vastly.increased donations to Republicans since 2018, some of these donations look like they could possibly be targeted towards Republicans who are against school choice. Many in Alabama and Illinois from smaller unions simply go to the local Republican candidate, but many it seems are targeted donations.

           All this to say it seems I was mostly wrong about that, so I apologize. It’s always good to relook at sources!

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