As the president of the nearly 4,000-member Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, Glaser makes friends and foes in near-equal measure. The school board knows just how he feels about the district’s budget — not great. And his teachers know that whatever their worry, Glaser is their staunch defender.
What’s the point of a teachers union in a state without teachers contracts?
We still work on issues of wages, benefits and working conditions. And we also exist to protect teachers’ rights under the due process procedures of the U.S. Constitution. This doesn’t go away in the absence of a contract. In fact, it becomes even more important because employees have fewer safeguards.
Teachers unions sometimes get a bad rap for defending people who some would say just ought not be leading a classroom. Why the negativity?
I think it’s because they’re the ones that are closest to the children, and when things go wrong, the teachers are the easiest to blame. It doesn’t happen that way in other businesses. If you have a computer factory and your computers aren’t competing with the competition, you don’t blame the people who put the computers together. You blame the people who conceive of the business. Teachers deliver the service — they’re not in control of the budget, or of working conditions.
You just got back from a trip studying Israel’s education system. What’d you learn?
Students go to school six days per week, but for a shorter period of time. There are fewer after-school activities; they have less special education. I was most impressed with how much their kids really want to learn. Here, we have too much emphasis on grades and not enough on learning.
How’s this school year going so far?
It’s starting off as a tough year. Class size is larger and it’s more stressful than it’s been in the past, and there are fewer resources.
