Teaching is a noble profession. It enlightens minds, promotes wisdom and insight, and opens the doors of opportunity to a brighter future.
Good teachers deserve our respect and admiration for the hard work they do in educating children. Over the last 30 years, though, respect for the teaching profession in public schools has declined due to its association with monopoly government unions.
Government unions hold a lock on access to teaching jobs, because public schools are banned from hiring teachers who are not dues- or fee-paying members.
In Washington state, all public school teachers, and most other school employees, have been forced to pay the union about $1,000 a year or face termination. The state’s most powerful union, the Washington Education Association (WEA) takes in about $37 million a year this way.