Do you Think Teachers Unions should be disbanded?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/201 ... nsin_N.htm

The public strongly opposes laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions as a way to ease state financial troubles, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

The poll found that 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to one being considered in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law.
Ohio and several other states that have new Republican governors and legislative majorities are considering laws that would reduce the power of government employee unions to bargain over benefits and work rules.
Wisconsin is the first state to consider the limits, prompting protests that have closed schools and drawn tens of thousands of protesters to the state Capitol in Madison.

Was that poll taken by union members - or were union members giving the poll?

You'll have to ask Gallup.

towermonkey wrote: www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-22-...ions-wisconsin_N.htm

The public strongly opposes laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions as a way to ease state financial troubles, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

The poll found that 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to one being considered in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law.
Ohio and several other states that have new Republican governors and legislative majorities are considering laws that would reduce the power of government employee unions to bargain over benefits and work rules.
Wisconsin is the first state to consider the limits, prompting protests that have closed schools and drawn tens of thousands of protesters to the state Capitol in Madison.

Funny how polls can be skewed. I will choose to belive this one. Especially after looking at our poll of having only 20% supporting the unions locally. You believe yours.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... ith_unions

48% Back GOP Governor in Wisconsin Spat, 38% Side With Unions

Interesting, RassmussenReports has something different to say with regards to that:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... ith_unions

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters agree more with the Republican governor in his dispute with union workers. Thirty-eight percent (38%) agree more with the unionized public employees, while 14% are undecided.

Gosh darn it Viking - you beat me to it!

I think the poll numbers are wrong - it depends on if you ask people in Detroit and Cleveland - or out here in the west. But it wouldn't suprise me if many people support the unions.

I just don't think the average American is very aware of this issue yet - especially the public workers unions. The issue is only a week old in the news now- thanks to Wisconsin. I have been aware of the problems for many years now in our area.

Over 90% of the private sector is non-union. The good reasons for unions no longer exist and public sector employee unions exist for no other reason than to gain political advantage over the taxpayers. The cities and counties and state's they work for are not the "ugly corporations" of decades past. Most public sector employee;s have it pretty good and they know it.

A great young teacher I know can't get a job here in Jeffco because the union is keeping her out. She has a masters degree and is fully certified. She teaches at Red Rocks instead - but she would rather be teaching 3rd graders. Unions proect the bad teachers and keep good ones from getting in.

When the public learns all the facts- the polls will change.

The Gallup poll is just 1000 random people - Rasmussen's poll is "likely voters". Might explain some of the difference. Rasmussen's got all of the republican's phone numbers handy when they need to sway public opinion.

Another poll:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/BSW_POLL_PRESS_RELEASE_FEB_17___2011.pdf

A more in-depth look at the results also shows:
• 61.5% of Independents oppose the proposal or think it that it goes too far
• 59.78% of non public employee households oppose the proposal or think it that it
goes too far
• 90% Democrats oppose the proposal or think it that it goes too far
• 1/3 of Republicans oppose the proposal or think it that it goes too far
• A clear majority oppose the proposal or think it that it goes too far in all Wisconsin
media markets

The Rasmussen survey was designed to blur over the distinction between the budget & benefit cuts that Walker seeks and his other goal, effectively abolishing collective bargaining for public workers. During the campaign, Walker said nothing about abolishing public workers' right to form a union in order to bargain over their working conditions-- and it looks to me like for many Wisconsin voters, this is an unwelcome surprise.

In the last election cycle, Rasmussen polled about 5% overly conservative compared to the actual results. This was a result of 1) not calling cell phone numbers and 2) their algorithm of "likely voters" was off.

In the two recent polls, Rasmussen set up their poll to slant against the unions. The preceding question was whether or not policemen, firemen and teachers should be allowed to strike. Of course the right to strike is prohibited under existing law, so that was misleading. This skewed the next question which was whether or not you agreed with the unions or the governor in this dispute. This was not about the right to strike which is prohibited, but Rasmussen created the appearance that it was about the right to strike.

Those are the correct questions to ask. They should also ask the voters if we should be able to fire bad teachers- and replace them with good ones.

How you think that poll will come out?