Conservatives have long doubted that unions really benefit education, but how do educators really feel about them?

Approximately 1000 public school K-12 teachers participated in a survey by the National Center for Education Information that shows growing support among teachers for education reforms that teacher unions often oppose. On the issue of “merit pay” (paying teachers based on their performance) 59% of respondents said they thought merit pay would “strengthen the teaching profession.” When NCEI last surveyed teachers in 2005, only 42% of teachers supported merit pay.