Teachers Need Union To Help Them Do The Job

By Capial Times columnist
John Nichols

September 11, 1997

Amy Greenebaum participated in last Friday's sickout by Madison teachers, and when she returned to her classroom at Hawthorne Elementary School Monday one of her students said, "I know why you weren't here on Friday."

"You were fighting with your boss," the first-grader continued.

"What do you think we should do about that?" Greenebaum asked.

"You should talk about it and work it out," the girl replied.

Greenebaum said she could not have been prouder of her student, who had learned well the most fundamental of lessons. "Those are the rules of our class -- you've got to talk things out, work things out together. It sounds simple, but I don't think the school administration understands the rules as well as the students."

It is easy to see this year's increasingly bitter negotiations between the Madison Metropolitan School District and the teachers union as a standard labor-management battle.

Yet, obscured by all the high-stakes positioning, the blame laying and the bombast is the reality of Amy Greenebaum -- a sincere, hard-working educator who loves the children in her classes and who wants only to be able to keep teaching them not just the facts but the values they will need to survive in a world that is not always kind to 6-year-olds.

At 33, Greenebaum has already been a teacher for a full third of her life. But there is no weariness in her, no hint of cynicism. ``I can't think of anything I'd rather do than teach these kids,'' she says. ``It stretches me as a person. I have to explore new things with them every day. I love how they learn. I love how they want to learn and I just want to encourage it every way I can.''

As much as she loves teaching, however, Greenebaum recognizes the challenges facing those who take on the daily responsibility of helping 6- and 7-year-olds learn how to read, write, add, subtract and dream big dreams. And she has no illusions about where the support for her sort of dedicated teaching comes from.

Greenebaum counts on parents, she counts on her fellow teachers, and she counts on her union.

"The support that I get as a teacher comes mostly from my union -- not the administration," she says.

The union historically has fought for decent pay and benefits for the Madison teachers, and Greenebaum appreciates that. But she values even more the commitment of the union to creating a school system that is humane and functional -- a school system where the emphasis is on helping teachers to teach the children of Madison, rather than simply going through the motions.

The union helped cut though the bureaucracy when Greenebaum needed a few days off to bury her father, and when she wanted to transfer to a new school where she felt her skills could be better used, the way was paved by policies promoted by the union.

Again and again, she says, the union has been the force helping her to do a better job as a teacher.

Greenebaum doesn't think the union is perfect. She recognizes the flaws in any organization. But she is certain of one thing: "If you ask me who really cares about making the schools work, I'll tell you that it's the union, not the administration."

Greenebaum understands one of the fundamental realities of Madison public schools. Administrators will leave for new, more prestigious jobs. School Board members will run for higher-profile positions or disappear into business. But the union is an ongoing presence that has, as its primary purpose, the maintenance of a school system that is safe, well managed and committed to providing Madison kids with the best education in America.

The teachers union will take plenty of hits over the next few weeks, as the administration struggles to turn public opinion against the people who work every day to educate our children. But the bottom line is really very simple: Great teachers like Amy Greenebaum say that "without the union, I don't think I could do the job."

Amid all the debates about the direction of education in Madison over the coming weeks, that may be the most important lesson of all.

The Capital Times

Posted September 23, 1997