Gratuitous slap at unions

THE SEPT. 15 editorial "Needless orthodoxy left behind" stated that union rules "often stifle education." This point is just stated gratuitously with no examples. Teachers unions protect teachers. That is one of their responsibilities. In the days before collective bargaining in Massachusetts, and before the tenure law, teachers were at the mercy of arbitrary firing by administrators and school committees. It didn't matter whether a teacher was proficient. Creative, imaginative, hard-working, well-educated teachers were let go if they incurred the displeasure of parents, administrators, or school committee members. Competent teachers would flee public school systems in droves without unions to protect them from arbitrary firing and demotions. Teachers unions are not perfect, but they are not the enemy of public education.

Charter schools are not the answer to improving public education. They are an end run around responsibility to taxpayers, elected officials, and state regulations regarding proper curriculum and common-sense requirements for teacher qualifications. Charter schools provide another public school system, not a better public school system. Look at the records of our local charter schools and say that they are doing a better job than the public schools.

WILLIAM McDERMOTT
Scituate
The writer is a retired public school teacher.