WASHINGTON, D.C. – The frightening truth is that American students are falling behind their peers in other nations in the key subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), “the bedrock subjects of innovation.”

Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, is well aware of this problem with the American education system.

“The United States, instead of moving ahead, is actually stagnating,” Weingarten was quoted as saying in a 2010 issue of Newsweek. “We’re basically in the same place we’ve been. Our schools have to be fundamentally different today than they were 100 years ago, 50 years ago. And yet our schools are still organized for the industrial age rather than the knowledge economy.”

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What an interesting observation for Weingarten to make, considering the nation’s largest teachers unions – Weingarten’s AFT and the National Education Association – are largely responsible for the academic stagnation that’s been paralyzing student achievement.

That’s the conclusion drawn by author Gary Beach in his article “Collectively Not a Bargain for America,” published in the August issue of U.S. News and World Report.

Beach traces the incredible growth of teachers unions over the past 50 years, and the domination they’ve developed over the nation’s K-12 public education system. He notes how union collective bargaining has allowed teacher salaries and benefits to eat up gigantic percentages of American education spending, yet taxpayers aren’t getting any bang for their buck.

Student test scores continue to wither, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math, and a continuation of this trend could mean “the United States stands to lose its position as a global leader.”

“Out-educating the rest of the world will not be easy … particularly as the process for K-12 public education in the United States remains at the mercy of teachers unions and collective bargaining contracts that clearly define the work rules of teachers but have no discernible impact on improving public education in America since they were introduced 54 years ago,” Beach writes.

More money for teachers, less learning

Two trends have gone depressingly in opposite directions over the past 50 years, according to Beach.

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On the one hand, teachers union collective bargaining became more aggressive and successful, pushing education costs for American taxpayers through the roof.

“One impact collective bargaining does have is to drive up the cost of public education,” Beach writes. “The latest data (2008) from the National Center for Education Statistics, the research arm for the U.S. Department of Education, claims that 89 percent of the $600 billion annually spent on K-12 public education in America goes into two buckets: teacher/administrative salaries (67 percent) and employee benefits (22 percent). Bottom line: expenditures per pupil skyrocketed 140 percent during the analyzed period while there was literally no improvement in math and reading scores, and science scores actually dropped.”

Beach suggests that lower student aptitude in the STEM subjects does not bode well for the economic future of the U.S.

“The Obama administration has sounded the warning loud and clear: As fewer American students commit themselves to the (STEM fields), the bedrock subjects of innovation, the United States stands to lose its position as a global leader,” Beach writes.

“Data from the 2013 World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Competitiveness Report’ suggest America’s leadership position has already begun to fade badly. The 2013 report places America seventh among 144 countries included in the study. The 2007 World Economic Report had the U.S. ranked No. 1.

“According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, just 16 percent of high school seniors are ‘proficient’ in mathematics and say they are interested in STEM careers. Of those who choose to major in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in college, less than half go on to work in those fields.”

Beach puts the blame on the teachers unions, which have gained virtual control over public education in many states through collective bargaining. With control comes responsibility to maintain and improve the system for students, but the unions have failed miserably in that regard, he writes.

The author separated 2011 math and science scores for eighth graders from states with strong collective bargaining traditions and a handful that don’t allow teachers unions to bargain at all.

“I assumed that student scores in states that (have) collective bargaining privileges for teachers would be higher than those in states where the labor practices are illegal,” Beach writes. “Why? Because teachers working with the assurances of collectively bargained work contracts would be better paid, have more productive working environments and wouldn’t have to worry about being unjustly fired by tyrant administrators.

“My premise was wrong … there seems to be no discernible difference in student math and science test scores between states that allow collective bargaining for teacher unions and those states that don’t.”

Union power should be weakened or eliminated

How does collective bargaining hurt education?

Beach cites a Harvard University report from Frederick Hess and Martin West, titled “A Better Bargain: Overhauling Teacher Collective Bargaining for the 21^st Century.”

According to that report, “collective bargaining contracts are problematic on three fronts: 1) they restrict efforts to use compensation as a tool to recruit, reward and retain the most essential and effective teachers, 2) they impede attempts to assign or remove teachers on the basis of fit(ness) or performance and, 3) they over-regulate school life with work rules that stifle creative problem-solving without demonstrably improving teachers’ ability to serve students.”

One major problem is the lack of teacher retention. That’s due to work rules that are heavily biased in favor of the most senior teachers, not necessarily the best teachers. For example, Beach claims that many union contracts allow senior teachers to have their first choice of class assignments, meaning younger teachers are often left with the more difficult and mundane subjects. That’s a big reason why so many walk away from the profession, according to Beach.

The intellectual stagnation of a profession that lacks competition and incentives is also a factor, according to Beach. Beach interviewed one former teacher who said she left the field because “I became disillusioned with the lack of interest by school administrators, my fellow teachers and my professors in graduate school, in how to continually improve as a teacher. I am a goal-driven person. And utter disinterest in striving for goals within the system created an environment that was toxic for me.”

So what’s the answer to this dilemma?

Beach again cites Hess and West, who suggested a five-part solution: “1) Have teacher pay be based on teacher’s skills, the difficulty of their assignments, the extent of their responsibilities and the caliber of their work, 2) the benefits (pension and health) offered by unions should be akin to similar programs offered by the competitive marketplace, 3) tenure should be eliminated from K-12 schooling, 4) teachers should be assigned to work positions based on educational need rather than seniority and 5) work rules should be weeded out of contracts.”

Beach offers another suggestion, courtesy of union critic and author Terry Moe: “It is unreasonable to expect unions to reform themselves in ways that make education for children a priority. Unions should be expected to behave the same way other organizations behave – that is, to promote their own interests.  If the education system is to evolve in ways that truly promote the education of children, union power over schools should be weakened, or eliminated.”