United Teachers Los Angeles supports merit pay “on a cold day in hell”

The Detroit Federation of Teachers shut down city schools to stop 15 charter schools from being built for free

The California Teachers Association has compared school vouchers to child prostitution

The Washington Teachers Union has withheld kids’ college recommendations for parents who didn’t oppose school reform

In Illinois (outside of Chicago), two union-protected teachers out of 95,500 are terminated for incompetence annually

In Illinois (outside of Chicago), it costs $219,504.21 to fire a bad union-protected teacher

In New Jersey, five union-protected teachers out of more than 100,000 are terminated for incompetence annually

In New York State, seventeen union-protected teachers are terminated a year

In New York State, it costs $128,941 to fire a bad union-protected teacher

In New York City, only ten out of 55,000 tenured teachers were terminated in 2006-2007

In Los Angeles, only eleven out of 43,000 union-protected teachers are even considered for termination annually

The National Education Association received $50 million for shaky investment advice in 2004 alone

NEA members are suing over the union’s endorsement of “Valuebuilder,” a plan with over $1 billion of members’ money invested

New York State United Teachers received $3 million for shaky investment advice in 2005

Washington Teachers Union embezzlement tab: $5 million

United Teachers of Dade (Miami) embezzlement tab: $2.5 million

Massachusetts Teachers Association embezzlement tab: $800,000

Michigan teachers unions' embezzlement tab from one thief: $218,000 in bad checks

How to Fire a Bad Teacher

Multiple groups have published charts illustrating graphically how difficult it is to get rid of a teacher who can’t or won’t improve. Washington City Paper even made a game out of D.C.’s Byzantine, union-enforced process. Click on one of the thumbnails below for a visual perspective on how tough teachers unions make it to terminate bad teachers.

Reason magazine (illustrated by Terry Colon, based off of a chart by Common Good) on union-imposed obstacles to teacher firing in New York City

Common Good Colorado illustrates how difficult tenured teacher terminations are in the Rocky Mountain state

Washington City Paper’s game, “How to Fire a DCPS Teacher”

Not any easier in Oklahoma: The Oklahoman’s “What it takes to fire a public school teacher”