The Florida Education Association (FEA) is being called one of the worst teachers unions in the country. The report comes from a not-exactly-unbiased arbiter, but from the right-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute, led by Chester Finn, a former U.S. assistant Secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan.
In the report, Florida's FEA is ranked 50th out of 51 states (only Arizona ranks lower), which also includes the District of Columbia.
The authors of the study said that Florida's state teacher union "has scant resources, few recent policy successes, a feeble reputation, and few allies in the capitol. Florida's state union is by far the weakest of any state in which bargaining is mandatory."
Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the FEA, is dismissive of the report, saying the review is as "valid as Fox News rating all other media outlets."
The authors of the report said their study "sheds light" on how teacher unions perform by answering three main questions:
1. What elements are potential sources of a union's strength (i.e., inputs)?
2. How might unions wield power in terms of behavior and conduct (i.e., processes and activities)?
3. What are signs that they have gotten their way (i.e., outcomes)?
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2012.