Longtime Bronx middle school English teacher Ms. Malarkey caught the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” criticizing teachers unions yesterday, and she took them to task on her blog:
Teacher unions are not evil. There have been a few years when I have had 36 and 37 kids in a class; during my first year, I had 40 bilingual students, no materials and no qualifications to teach bilingual kids. The UFT is constantly fighting to lower class size, as smaller classes are proven to be a factor in success. I can’t say I had the kind of success I wanted when my students and I were crammed into the room like sardines, with kids sharing books.
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