Teacher's Unions

I taught secondary school for three years. Before school started, we were required to go to a meeting where members of the teacher's union had time to convince us to sign up. They had no real information as to what the teacher's union would do for us. They just told me that if a student or a parent wanted to sue me or charge me of a crime, I would be represented by the union. Nothing else. But I felt extreme pressure to sign up for the union and pay my dues. I did find out that the union I was pressured to be a part of was against vouchers because it would endanger teacher's jobs. I just said, "Well, if I lose my job, I can go get one at a private school." I don't see that teacher's unions do much good for anybody.

Too Much Homework?

I am the mother of an eight-year-old boy, a five-year-old stepson, and an 18-month-old daughter. Fortunately, my daughter doesn't have to worry about homework yet, but the way things are going, she soon will! It seems that more and more parents are complaining about their young kids coming home with too much homework. My son has to read 30 minutes a night, do a worksheet or two, and spelling. I actually don't think it is too much, but I do think the worksheets and spelling are a waste of time, perhaps excluding the math worksheets. Sound reading research suggests that reading is what makes kids better readers and broadens their vocabulary, not worksheets about reading, and reading is also what makes kids better writers, grammarians, and spellers, not worksheets and spelling drills (See Stephen Krashen's The Power of Reading). So I don't mind that he is required to read 30 minutes a day. I just don't like all the worksheets because they are a waste of his and my time. Why are schools spending time on spelling, explicit grammar instruction, explicit writing instruction etc, when the research clearly shows that more reading is more effective? Ask any good writer how they became good writers. Don't they always say: reading?