Teacher Union Power Connecticut Style

Chris Powell in the Journal Inquirer, reminds us of how much power teacher union officials wield in Connecticut through their political activity.

Little government spending on education in Connecticut ends up with billionaires. Since most spending in education goes for personnel, most spending ends up with teachers who are members of the unions that constitute the largest faction of the Democratic Party, Murphy’s political party.

Connecticut law requires teacher compensation to be determined by collective bargaining and binding arbitration of union contracts, mechanisms that remove most school spending and even working conditions from the ordinary democratic process. Because teacher unions are the most fearsome special interest in the state, teacher evaluations are exempted from disclosure under the state’s right-to-know law, alone of all government employee evaluations. Further, to ensure that any economies in education are used only to increase teacher compensation, Connecticut law even forbids school systems from reducing spending when their enrollment declines.