I liked hearing Bob and Darrel talk.  It was apparent to me that they had an opinion, but were trying to be honest within there presentation.  I'm not sure that I really learned anything I wasn't aware of before, I've been thinking about the union issue for a while now.  My father is a teacher and when the Governor broke the teachers union he was of course upset.  We were upset because the union gives teachers the ability to negotiate things like their working conditions and pay even though they are not allowed to strike.  On the flip side there have been times where the unions power has been abused and I don't like some of the causes that the teachers union supports either.  It's apparent to me that there are two sides to the union coin.  I'm not really sure how to fix it so that the unions power will not be abused, but I also believe that unions can be good for more than just the teachers they represent they can also be good for the students too.

I liked the maps of the united states that showed the link between teachers unions and student ACT and SAT scores.  Maybe it's not solid proof that unionized teachers are better teachers but it does show evidence that this is probably true.  I'm not sure how long it will take, but I think that the education provided to students within the state of Wisconsin is not going to be as good as it was before the union was broke.  Not because teachers don't love kids or teaching, but because without the unions teachers are going to lose some of the working conditions that helped them be good teachers, such as smaller class sizes and prep time.  I hope I'm wrong.  I think most people will agree that we all want a great education for our kids we just don't agree on how to go about giving them that great education.