The War Against Hope: How Teachers' Unions Hurt Children, Hinder Teachers, and Endanger Public Education

by Nelson Current and Rod Paige

Something is terribly wrong with America's public school system. For decades, we have seen test scores slide or stagnate (today fewer than twenty percent of our nation's twelfth graders are proficient in math, and our students rank near the bottom in science and math among the industrialized nations of the world) and achievement gaps persist or widen. So who's responsible for the ongoing failure of our education system? In "The War Against Hope," former Secretary of Education Rod Paige pulls no punches in his critical analysis of America's crisis in the classroom. Without question, the greatest impediment to meaningful school reform is the enormous, self-aggrandizing power wielded by the teachers' unions. In this vital, well-documented book, Paige takes an unflinching look at the power-hungry union leaders who have consistently placed their ambitions ahead of the needs of the teachers and the students whom they claim to serve. He also traces the history of the National Education Association (NEA) from its humble beginnings as an advocate of education excellence to its early radicalization by left-wing ideology. "The War Against Hope" is a disturbing account of the corruption, greed, and skewed values that have assaulted our schools, betrayed our teachers, and forsaken our children for far too long.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159555002X
• ISBN13: 9781595550026
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Nelson Current
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The Ball Is in the Union's Court

I have written many critiques of articles and books, but this book had my head swirling. I was a teacher and union building rep (at the same time) for many years and although I did not agree with everything the union did (who does?) I was never aware of the union's practices and history that Paige reports. I have always considered a union necessary because of the practices and working conditions foisted on teachers by principals and district staffers (for the superintendent and board). Even though I walked picket lines and encouraged fellow teachers to join with full membership, I never protected an obviously-incompetent or racist teacher. In fact, I encouraged the principal to deal with him or her--to the consternation of my union Higher-Up. (You see, we teachers don't always blindly follow the union...or the administrators.) One repeating problem in my school and district was caused by the upper-level administration placing on teachers the burden of one educational fad after another--all (to my knowledge) ending in failure and the waste of millions of the taxpayers' dollars. And just like some teachers pass students along with no justification, so do some teacher college professors pass potential teachers who immediately or eventually fail our students, the community and the nation. As Paige would seem to agree, I think teachers' unions should be only a business entity dealing with working conditions and pay. Leave the curriculum up to the superintendent (not that he or she has done a great job), or, as in charter schools, up to the local school. Yes, I have once or twice been the subject of union harassment by one or more of the union's "blind" followers, but I was tough enough to handle it. And I didn't consider this treatment pervasive. Paige has revealed many negative practices by teachers' unions that need to be answered by them. But, remember, unions do not hire teachers (even if a certain board may be in a union's pocket, as Paige reports), so blame the boards of education, the administrator and curriculum developers at the administration headquarters. I am not in sympathy with the idea--pushed by Paige--that teachers should receive merit or performance pay for a job well done. In my own classes I had students who learned much faster than others--and all of my students were poor enough to have a lunch subsidy. I worked very hard to get results, but a teacher in an area where most students are on level can get the same results or better and not have to put in the hours and effort I did, and he or she may receive merit pay, but not me. So, additional pay based on test scores (measured against a standard) is not fair to teachers. Let me explain further. I say hire only quality teachers and check that quality not by how the students meet a standard, but how much progress the students have made toward that standard. If--and I'm not exaggerating here, especially for big-city schools--50 to 75 percent of my 8th graders ent

take back our schools

This book did an excellent job uncovering the danger our public schools are experiencing.It is a must read for all Americans.We must force our elected officials to address the teachers unions and make teachers accountable.The education system should reward excellent teachers and extract bad ones.The time is now.Encourage good business people to run for school boards.The system has to be changed to secure America's future.

I hope this is read by everyone who pays taxes to fund our public schools

This topic is so heated that it is easy for each side to accuse the other of bad faith and to make accusations that do not have substance. Let me say right out that I believe that nearly all classroom teachers are dedicated people who care about their students and most are good at what they do. Some are excellent and some are incompetent, but this is something that is known by everyone about people who work in every field of endeavor. Also, I am NOT against labor unions. I do think they are most often brought about by bad employers, but there are also unions who are brought about by politics. And it is the mix of politics and union economic power that is as toxic as the mix of big business and politics. Each situation hurts society by stifling competition and moving the purpose of the organization from producing what it was created to do to providing jobs or economic rents for parties with the political power. Both are bad things and should be fought against, strenuously. Neither is Rod Paige, the author of this book, attacking teachers or even unions in general. What he is against is that in our present educational system, the unions have linked their identity as the classroom teachers when they are something apart from them even while representing them. The unions have not only tremendous political power to stifle reform, they also have often hand picked and gotten elected the board that is supposed to negotiate with the unions in setting the rules and signing the contracts. How can this be good? And if the kids aren't learning, what is the use of providing jobs for the teachers in the first place? It would be similar to create a car factory that could not build proper cars, but all the energy went into issues surround those building the cars (that weren't being built well) instead of facing squarely why the cars were coming off the line in such poor condition. Obviously, in the real world such a company would face competition and, if it couldn't fix its problems, would simply go out of business. However, for some reason we feel we cannot allow competition to improve the quality of education our children receive. This craziness isn't the fault of the teachers, but of the system that empowers the unions to block meaningful reform and competition. This is an excellent book that should be read by everyone interested in the power of the teacher's unions and how they behave in preventing meaningful change or even experimentation in trying to find a better way for educating our children. Let me say again, I am PRO TEACHER. I think they need to be paid fairly. However, we have school systems to educate OUR children. They do not belong to society. They belong to us. We pay the tax dollars that fund the schools. We should have almost complete say in how our school systems are run, how they are funded, and the curriculum taught. Yet, we do not. This book can help you understand who has that power, how they got it, and why we