Teachers' Unions Have Forgotten Why They Were Created

There was a time when teachers' unions served an essential purpose. They were born out of necessity during the nineteenth century, when educators worked for low wages, endured poor working conditions, and had few legal protections. Teachers had little power to negotiate individually, so collective bargaining made sense. Organizations like the National Education Association were founded to elevate the teaching profession, improve public education, and give educators a stronger voice. That mission was honorable. The question today is whether teachers' unions are still fulfilling it. In our view, they are not.

Instead of focusing primarily on representing teachers in the classroom, many unions have become political organizations that devote their member dues to lobbying, campaign spending, and advancing ideological agendas. Increasingly, they appear more interested in influencing elections and totalitarian control rather than actually improving classrooms.

That transformation and interference has become obvious at school board meetings.

This transformational shift has become particularly visible during local school board meetings. Instead of union members demonstrating the professionalism once associated with the teaching profession, some public meetings have devolved into heated confrontations marked by shouting, interruptions, and personal attacks. Too often, little or no respect is shown toward the elected school board, reflecting a disregard not only for its members but also for the voters who entrusted them with that responsibility. This behavior undermines public confidence in both educators and the institutions they serve.

Parents whose children measure a catastrophic loss of learning question curriculum, school safety, declining academic performance, or learning loss are so often dismissed with a familiar response: "Trust the experts." These are the very "experts" who will most certainly drive the public school system into the ground.

Outside of board meetings, unions have relied on conducting smear campaigns of misleading and fictitious claims, political messaging to manufacture controversies that would not otherwise exist, and fueling unnecessary division and anger within the community. When you step back and observe the patterns and tactics of the teachers' union, one can clearly see that their conduct has nothing to do with the education profession.

Credentials deserve respect, but they are not a substitute for results.

Maryland continues to struggle with students who are not reading or performing at grade level. Parents have every right to ask difficult questions and expect measurable improvement. Responding with appeals to authority instead of accountability only widens the gap between families and the education establishment.

Meanwhile, the legal landscape has changed dramatically since teachers first unionized.

Public employees today enjoy constitutional due process protections recognized by the Supreme Court, including Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill (1985). Federal civil rights laws provide additional protections against discrimination and unlawful employment practices. In Maryland, the Blueprint for Maryland's Future has committed billions of dollars toward public education, including significant increases in teacher compensation and statewide salary standards.

Those developments raise an important question.

If many of the protections unions originally fought to secure are now guaranteed by law, what unique purpose are they serving today?

A highly effective teacher in a small school district may gladly accept a slightly smaller salary increase in exchange for additional planning time, more flexibility, or a schedule that better fits family life. Another teacher may prefer higher pay over additional leave. Those choices should belong to individual professionals whenever possible, not be dictated through one-size-fits-all collective bargaining agreements.

Teaching is a profession. Professionals should be treated like professionals.

Many educators also deserve to hear more than one perspective when deciding whether to join a union. Teachers should compare membership costs, legal protections, liability coverage, and representation before making that decision. An informed choice is always better than one driven by pressure, tradition, or a monopoly.

The greatest tragedy is that many teachers may never discover what they could accomplish on their own, because they have been told collective representation is their only option.

Perhaps it was in 1950...but America has changed. The law has changed. The profession has changed. Maybe teacher representation should change as well.

Quality and merit has always been rewarded in America. We recognize exceptional physicians, attorneys, engineers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. We encourage innovation and excellence in nearly every profession. Why should teaching be different?

Outstanding educators should have the opportunity to distinguish themselves, negotiate for themselves, and build careers based on merit rather than conformity.

Collective bargaining served an important purpose for generations. It helped build the modern teaching profession. But institutions, like laws, should evolve with the times.

If teachers truly want to reclaim the respect, dignity, and professionalism that their profession deserves, they should begin by asking a simple question:

Who represents me today? My profession, or someone else's politics?

One experience nearly every veteran teacher remembers is their new-hire orientation.

Some recall being ushered into a meeting room, or treated to a catered lunch, where representatives from the local teachers' union made their case for membership. The presentations often emphasized legal protection, liability coverage, and the importance of solidarity. For many educators, however, those presentations felt less like an introduction to a professional association and more like a high-pressure sales pitch.

The message was unmistakable: Join the union because someday you'll need us.

Many teachers left believing that if a student or parent ever filed a complaint or lawsuit against them, the union would stand beside them from beginning to end.

Some educators later discovered that reality did not always match those expectations.

We heard may reports from reliable teachers who say they were falsely accused of misconduct and expected immediate legal representation, only to learn that they would first need to retain their own attorney, pay legal expenses out of pocket, and seek reimbursement afterward if their case qualified under their membership benefits. Those experiences have left some educators questioning whether the legal protection they believed they had purchased was as comprehensive as they were led to believe. Some were cleared of all charges, but never received reimbursement from their union.

In Maryland, union membership is voluntary. Every teacher has the right to decide whether joining a union is in his or her best interest. Yet some educators say they felt significant social pressure to join immediately, worried that canceling their membership would leave them isolated from their colleagues, or vulnerable if a dispute arose.

Others have raised concerns about the political activities of teachers' unions. Public records show that national and state teachers' unions direct over 94% of their political contributions to the Democratic Party, giving tens of millions of dollars each election cycle for political advocacy and campaign activities. https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus?ind=L1300

For some teachers, regardless of party affiliation, that raises an important question:

Are my dues primarily supporting my profession, or advancing political causes that may not reflect my own views?

The Maryland Blueprint is one of the most comprehensive education laws in the nation that guarantees teachers' salaries, which are now the highest in the United States.

Today, most teachers in small districts would have better pay and a more flexible working schedule if they simply negotiated their salaries and working conditions directly with the local school board. For example, tenured and quality teachers in smaller districts may be willing to forfeit a 3% raise for a 2% raise, but for more time off on an individual basis. Individual teachers don't know what they can achieve individually, because their voices are silenced by the political class of the Maryland State Education Association, who directly control the subsidiary "education associations" in each county.

Some educators have chosen to leave the union altogether, while remaining fully committed to the classroom. Others have sought alternative, non-union professional education associations that focus primarily on legal representation, professional liability coverage, and educator support without all the politics. Here are some options worth exploring:

Teacher Freedom Alliance: https://teacherfreedomalliance.com/ Membership for teachers is FREE (no dues) and you receive a sponsored $2 million dollar Professional Liability Insurance,

Professional Development Credit Hours, Alternate Curriculums & Pedagogies, Engaged Community of Educators.

Christian Educators: https://christianeducators.org Membership for teachers is $259/year. Includes $2 million dollar Professional Liability Insurance, Job Action Protection Benefits, Legal Consult on Personnel Issues, Legal Consult on Religious Issues, Educational Consultation.

Association of American Educators: https://www.aaeteachers.org/ Membership for teacher is $19.50/month and you receive $2 million dollar Professional Liability Insurance, Job Protection Coverage, Teaching License Protection, No-Cost Life Insurance, Networking, Professional Resources, Newsletters, & Opportunities.

Fellows & Editors

July 14, 2026

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