Ask Auntie Pinko
December 11, 2003

Dear Auntie Pinko,

Thanks for the opportunity to voice my concern about your previous column on unions and education.

Unions indeed can be very beneficial when it comes down to improving the quality of working conditions but why should it be at the cost of The People?

For instance, look at government schools and teachers unions. The teachers unions obviously do not address the problem with teachers expressing their political stance to the student which is something that should be left out of the school system. That is one aspect that should be left up to the parents.

Auntie Pinko, do you think there should be guidelines issued to prevent teachers from offering their beliefs upon our children?

Thank you.

Brian,
Chattanooga, TN

Dear Brian,

Auntie Pinko is a little confused by your question "Unions indeed can be very beneficial when it comes down to improving the quality of working conditions but why should it be at the cost of The People?"

Auntie was under the impression that union members are, in fact, members of "The People," and so are the families they are supporting with their wages and job benefits. You seem to be implying that those members of "The People" who do not belong to unions are in some way harmed by the participation of our neighbors in unions. I would recommend a study of the history of labor-related legislation in America during the last twenty years of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

I am profoundly grateful to American unions for the benefits I have enjoyed throughout my working life - including a 40-hour work week, overtime pay, minimum wages, safe working conditions, paid holidays, and much more. None of these would exist today without the hard work of unions and millions of union members. I have at various times been a union member, a worker not represented by a union, a manager, and an employer/business owner. In every case, I would have to say, the quality of my working life has been higher than it would have been without the existence of unions.

Unions have their down sides and I could write volumes on how I would change (hopefully improve) them in our changing economy, but their continued existence and continued advocacy on behalf of labor is still of great value to me. Without them, there would be little to counterbalance the immense influence of capital and big business on a government increasingly bought and sold by the raw power of money. And Auntie Pinko's faith in the altruism of business interests toward their labor force is limited, at best.

But it is your other question that really intrigues me, Brian: "do you think there should be guidelines issued to prevent teachers from offering their beliefs upon our children?"

Not unless I get to write those guidelines, Brian. Would you trust me to do so? Should I trust you to do so? Do you trust Congress to do it? Or a federal bureaucracy? Do you think that guidelines issued in (for example) Massachussetts, would work well in Texas? Should every state issue their own guidelines? Every school district? Every individual school?

The limitations on the First Amendment that are permissible or appropriate in educational settings are part of a constantly evolving body of law and precedent. There is a pretty general consensus that teachers should not be permitted to exercise their First Amendment rights in a way that incites students to break the law or to inflict physical harm upon themselves or others. Most rules requiring teachers to refrain from teaching factually untrue material or material that contradicts approved curricula have been upheld by the courts when challenged.

Beyond that, it is my experience that principals and school administrators are usually willing to review parents' complaints about inappropriate teaching practices. However, unless the complaints are widespread (many parents have the same complaint about the same teacher), valid (investigation confirms the actions did, in fact occur as represented in the complaints), and involve a sufficiently serious negative impact on the quality of students' education to warrant potential disciplinary and/or (ultimately) legal action, the remedy usually involves simply transferring a student to other classrooms or schools.

Many of Auntie Pinko's teachers, when I was growing up, expressed a wide variety of political, religious, philosophical, artistic, cultural, and other opinions/beliefs to me. Some of them were very congruent with my parents' beliefs and opinions; some were not. One of the most fundamental and valuable aspects of my education was learning to critically examine the opinions and beliefs of others who were trying to influence me. I could not have learned this without the lively discussions of belief and opinion in my classes.

Auntie Pinko does understand your concern, Brian. But if parents are worried that the various beliefs and opinions that their children may be exposed to during the educational process are "wrong," it is the responsibility of parents to provide their children with information about the "right" beliefs - and to encourage their children to learn to think and analyze all such beliefs, and to develop informed opinions of their own. Denying children a chance to do this in the context of their education would handicap them dreadfully when they enter a world full of persuasive and articulate marketers, politicians, advertisers, entertainers, etc.

I hope this provides you with another perspective on this important issue. And thank you for asking Auntie Pinko!