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Why strong teachers unions are death on public education

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Cite

Post Editorial Board. (2026, September 18). Why strong teachers unions are death on public education. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/17/opinion/why-strong-teachers-unions-are-death-on-public-education/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-18 · by Post Editorial Board

Quick Summary

The article argues that powerful teachers unions are detrimental to public education based on a study from the Progressive Policy Institute showing states with strong union presence generally score worse in student literacy tests compared to those where unions have less influence. The author claims that unions prioritize their own interests over students' needs and resist reforms, using New York and Los Angeles as examples of how union power hinders educational improvements despite significant spending on schools.
Written by AI on 2026-09-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The New York Post editorial board argues that strong teachers' unions negatively impact public education. According to a Progressive Policy Institute study, states with influential American Federation of Teachers (AFT) or National Education Association (NEA) tend to have worse student literacy scores compared to those where the unions have less influence. The article highlights that eight out of the ten states with the worst literacy scores are blue states with powerful teachers' unions. Rachel Canter, PPI's director of education policy and architect of Mississippi’s educational improvements, notes a significant correlation between weaker union power and better student performance.

Written for “Teachers Unions Impact Education” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Teachers Unions Impact Education
Education · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 5 of 45 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of education policy and do not describe a single specific incident or occurrence.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of education policy and do not describe the same specific event or incident.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A reports on a planned strike vote by Ontario's Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, while Article B discusses a broader critique of teachers unions' impact on public education based on a study.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of teachers unions and their influence on education policies in distinct contexts.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 3 of 21 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Both articles discuss a study from the Progressive Policy Institute linking strong teachers' unions to poor literacy performance, but they do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of teachers unions: one focuses on their impact on student literacy, while the other criticizes them for pressuring civil rights groups to oppose school choice.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16017 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Post Editorial Board
122 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 The Democratic machine, which prioritizes winning over morals, will disown her.
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Post Editorial Board
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 122 articles by Post Editorial Board →

Topics

AFT Mississippi New York Progressive Policy Institute the American Federation of Teachers

Subjects

AFT ORG · 2× Mississippi GPE · 2× New York GPE · 2× Democratic NORP · 1× National Education Association ORG · 1× PPI ORG · 1× Progressive Policy Institute ORG · 1× Rachel Canter PERSON · 1× Republican NORP · 1× the American Federation of Teachers ORG · 1×

Narrative

Nationally, the jig is increasingly up: Too many parents saw strong teachers unions keep school doors locked long past any point of reason after COVID hit, with AFT President Randi Weingarten working the Biden administration to support the madness; parents also saw what a joke the “remote learning” was, and got a taste of the pathetic curricula favored by blue-area public schools.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-18
🔮 Reform requires teachers to do things differently; unions insist on charging a high price for any change — and hate any standards that might expose some teachers as not up to the job.
2026-09-18 · New York Post
Why strong teachers unions are death on public education · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 1 hedged)

In the latest sign that powerful teachers unions make for weak schools, a study out of the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute shows that states where the American Federation of Teachers or National Education Association wield great power overwhelmingly score worse in student literacy than ones where the unions have less sway. asserted
unions → make → sway
The reason’s obvious: Unions prioritize their own political power and their members’ privileges, not the children’s needs; that’s not their job. asserted
that → ’ → power
And when government-employee unions have too much power, the public suffers. asserted
public → have → power
Yes, other factors matter, too: Five Republican states and one swing state have relatively poor literacy scores; four Democratic states are among the 23 top-performing. But the union factor is huge. asserted
factor → matter → 23
Rachel Canter is PPI’s director of Education Policy and an architect of the Mississippi Miracle that’s seen that state make huge gains in literacy instruction by paying close heed to the science of reading; she sums up the study: “We found a strong, negative correlation between the two — the more powerful the unions, the fewer literacy-policy principles the state had adopted. asserted
state → see → two
Reform requires teachers to do things differently; unions insist on charging a high price for any change — and hate any standards that might expose some teachers as not up to the job. uncertain
that → require → job
New York — home to the powerful United Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers — ranks among the least literate, with over half of 3rd- through 5th-graders failing reading proficiency exams. asserted
half → rank → exams
Gov. Kathy Hochul tried to work with the unions to help the kids; it was a fiasco: She paid NYSUT millions to design a “science of reading” curriculum, only for it to produce garbage. asserted
it → try → garbage
No wonder New York fourth-graders now lag their Mississippi peers in reading. asserted
graders → lag → reading
And pity poor Los Angeles, whose teachers union is an affiliate of both the AFT and NEA. asserted
union → pity → AFT
Every year, the unions pour tens of millions of dollars into electing Democrats (and some obedient Republicans) who’ll keep spending more on public schools while requiring less of public-school teachers. asserted
who → pour → teachers
Nationally, the jig is increasingly up: Too many parents saw strong teachers unions keep school doors locked long past any point of reason after COVID hit, with AFT President Randi Weingarten working the Biden administration to support the madness; parents also saw what a joke the “remote learning” was, and got a taste of the pathetic curricula favored by blue-area public schools. asserted
learning → see → schools
That makes a difference everywhere: Indeed, deep-blue Massachusetts has managed to pass strong “science of reading” reforms over union opposition — in part because some heroic teachers stood up to call out the labor leaders’ lies. asserted
teachers → make → lies
We believe in public education — but it has to mean schools that deliver for the kids, or every parent who can will find a different answer. asserted
who → believe → answer
Too bad Randi Weingarten & Co. have forgotten about that. asserted
Weingarten → forget → that
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