BrianGarst.com

Andrew Coulson of Cato has issued a challenge to readers and/or critics to name a field that has suffered the kind of productivity collapse seen in education over the last 40 years.  None of the suggestions so far have measured up.

So why has American education both gotten more expensive and less effective?  This story (Hat tip: John Stossel’s Take) might give you a hint:

Baltimore’s most successful middle school is laying off staff and shortening its school day to meet demands of a teachers union contract in what is one of the first major disputes over teacher pay between a charter school and a union.

KIPP Ujima Village Academy, based on a model that has forged a successful track record among poor students in more than a dozen states, has been violating a contract requiring teachers to be paid more if they work extra hours, school and union leaders acknowledge.

…

Advocates say the confrontation goes to the heart of what they see as a major weakness of Maryland’s charter school law: Teachers must be part of the union in their school district and subject to the contract. If the issue is not resolved, KIPP may ask state lawmakers to allow schools greater flexibility in determining teachers’ pay and workdays.

…

Students will attend classes for eight hours in the next school year, and Saturday classes have been canceled. The four layoffs include one music and one art teacher who were recently let go, as well as two staff members who worked with special education and struggling students.

Because education is largely delivered through political mechanisms, rather than the market, teachers unions have been uniquely successful in hijacking the industry.  They have supplanted the interests of children with their own.

Some want to emulate this model in other industries, like health care.  They should expect the same disastrous consequences – such as continuing price increases despite precipitous productivity declines – with universal health care as we have seen with universal education.