Teachers Union Refuses To Write Kids College Recs Until They Get The Deal They Want

Font Size:

Students out of a Pennsylvania school district will have to get accepted to college without teacher recommendations, unless a certain group of teachers get the labor agreement they want.

The decision to stop writing recommendations came from the Radnor Township Education Association. Officials expect a new contract by Oct. 1, at which point teachers will start writing college recommendations again. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which first broke the story Monday, noted parents were first made aware when the association sent out letters Sept. 3.

“People weren’t really concerned about it,” Association President David Wood told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “We understand that the parents are going to be angry with us.”

According to the association, the move was to bring attention to the situation. The problem is that the course of action puts some students in a tight spot, particularly those students on a strict application deadline. For James Paul, a senior policy analyst for the Commonwealth Foundation, this shows the true motives behind the associations.

“Parents in Radnor Township are beginning to recognize what many teachers have known for years,” Paul told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Teachers union leaders aren’t shy about putting their own interests ahead of students.”

“The union’s decision to use kids’ college aspirations as negotiating leverage is a great illustration of why teachers union membership is declining in Pennsylvania,” he added.

According to Wood, drastic action was needed. Teachers salaries have fallen behind and very few people cared they were working without a contract. He noted over the years teachers have tried to get parents on their side with informational meetings and asking them to write to the school board but it didn’t help.

“None of it was really successful,” Wood also noted. “The truth is they hate us…so we need to do whatever we can do to get the district to negotiate in a fair way.”

The association did not respond to a request for comment from TheDCNF.

Follow Connor on Twitter

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.