No strong teacher unions, lower SAT/ACT scores. Any correlation?

[Omaha Steve]

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/02/22/no-strong-teacher-unions-lower-satact-scores-any-correlation/

8:38 am February 22, 2011, by Maureen Downey

In the national debate over whether teachers should have collective bargaining rights, Michael Moore, a professor at Georgia Southern University, sent some interesting data that he allowed me to share here.

Only five states do not have collective bargaining for educators and have deemed it illegal.

Those states and their ACT/SAT rankings are as follows:

South Carolina – 50th

North Carolina – 49th

Georgia – 48th

Texas – 47th

Virginia – 44th

If you are wondering, Wisconsin, with its collective bargaining for teachers, is ranked 2nd in the country.

(In Wisconsin, the new governor, Scott Walker, is trying to wipe out teachers’ collective bargaining rights.)

–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog