> Teachers are unionized here and are one of the most powerful political forces.
This does not seem compatible with all the stories I've heard about underpaid teachers having to buy material for their students out of their own pocket. I'm sure it somehow ends up both being true in a twisted way, but it still sounds strange.
If you think about it, American teachers are the most obvious example of why unionization doesn't necessarily improve anything at all. An average class of 24 costs just short of $700k per year to the citizens of New York City and the cost is rising rapidly every year. Meanwhile, teachers are supposed to be underpaid, overworked and exploited.
I guess teachers are supposed to take solace in the fact they are very powerful.
That is an absurd conclusion to draw without looking at the details of what the various organizations and institutions actually structurally do in practice.
It's not like the whole system is a magical black box that just does what it does and there is no way of knowing what is going on.
"Buying things out of pocket" was such a smart tactic from the union. Have each teacher buy a box of pencils for a few dollars and complain loudly so people think you are spending much more.
They do in many cases, it doesn't help because it's such an easy PR story. They just ask for more. The objective can never be "stop this group from wanting more money" because human desire is infinite.
