The Effects of Teachers Unions on American Education

The purpose of the present review is to summarize, and attempt to reconcile, the empirical research on the actual impact teachers unions have on American education. To give structure to that effort, this article analyses the unions' effectiveness in pursuing five of their key objectives: (1) raising their members' wages, (2) growing their membership, (3) increasing the share of the public school labor force that they represent, (4) precluding pay based on performance or aptitude, and (5) minimizing competition from nonunion shops