Education

The Worm in the Apple: How the Teacher Unions Are Destroying American Education By Peter Brimelow HarperCollins, 320 pages, $24.95 America leads the world in spending on public education, yet our students perform dismally. Financial journalist Peter Brimelow addresses this paradox by unmasking the pernicious role of teachers' unions. About 85 percent of teachers belong to the American Federation of Teachers or the National Education Association; Brimelow focuses on the latter. The NEA boasts 2.6 million members and annual …showed first 75 words of 580 total…

…showed last 75 words of 580 total…to eliminate the unions' bargaining monopoly; enacting right-to-work legislation; toughening anti-strike laws; opening up teacher certification to eliminate barriers to entry; and abolishing the federal Department of Education. Though it doesn't address all problems (we won't cure politicized Deweyite "education" by making it cheaper), this is a meritorious and valuable book. Brimelow has smoked out a gluttonous, fanged worm. His proposals are certainly worth implementing. If anyone can figure out a way around the NEA.