What Should Teachers’ Unions Do in a Time of Educational Crisis? An Essay Review of Lois Weiner’s The Future of Our Schools

Abstract

What roles can and should teachers’ unions play in the deliberations, debates, and conflicts over school reform in a time when education sits at the center of so much of our economic, political, ideological, and cultural tensions? Lois Weiner’s new book, The Future of Our Schools: Teachers Unions and Social Justice, speaks directly to this question. While supportive of unions and their historical and current contributions, Weiner is quite critical of the ways teachers’ unions as organizations function and of many of the dominant political and educational positions that teachers’ unions have taken. Weiner articulates an alternative, “social movement unionism.” While not as fully developed as it might be, her position is thoughtful and provocative when grounded in the lost history of the very beginnings of teacher unionism in the United States and also in current examples of more socially involved efforts of union members here and elsewhere.