Student Note: Stronger Together: How Union Friendly Legislation Can Help Mend the Teacher Shortage

INTRODUCTION The practice of organized labor has a long history in the United States, and currently a significant number of workers in the United States are part of a labor union.1 Surprisingly, some of the most prominent and influential labor unions in the United States revolve around the jobs that teach and take care of our children, as every state has a teachers' union presence.2 The two most prominent teachers' unions are the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which combine represent nearly five million individuals.3 These organizations not only have a major presence in the public school system, but they are also amongst the top ten largest labor unions in the country.4 Teachers' unions do not have isolated effects to only the teachers they represent, but instead have far reaching political power and are often influential in shaping school districts.5 An example of this political power was showcased in 2018, when several teacher's strikes occurred around the country.6 After these strikes, many politicians who denounced the strikes, as well as those who favored school privatization lost in the election.7 This was likely not coincidental as teachers' unions are known to spend millions of dollars on ballot initiatives for candidates with union friendly agendas.8 While teachers' unions have vast influence over most public schools and political pull, there are states that are resistant to the presence of teachers' unions. "10 Without the ability to negotiate, the unions are left nearly powerless.11 That is why some states, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arizona and Texas do not allow collective bargaining for unions that represent public employees.12 The research behind the impact of teachers' unions is hard to measure, as different school district factors play a role in teacher and student success and satisfaction, such as socioeconomic level, population, and student to teacher ratio.13 This is particularly true when trying to determine unions effects on student educational outcomes.14 However, despite conflicting data on union effects on student educational outcomes, there is evidence of union efforts, particularly through strikes, leading to better conditions, pay, and benefits for teachers. BACKGROUND I. The Teacher Shortage The teacher shortage has historically been challenging to measure, due to the differences between school budgets and a lack of relevant date.24 However, d