Writer: Unions Must Focus On Learning Instead Of Teaching

In commentary for Education Week (5/8) , Arthur Levine writes that the current climate of high-level criticism being directed against teachers unions stems from the US' shift from being "a national, analog, industrial economy to a global, digital, information economy." Noting that the US education system had its genesis in the industrial age, Levine writes, "information economies focus on common outcomes" with variable processes. He argues that teachers unions adhere to "the focus on teaching and advocate time-based rewards to teachers," whereas many policymakers "have adopted the information economy's focus on learning."