%0 Journal Article
%T Framing the debate over teacher unions
%A William C. Smith
%J Mid-Atlantic Education Review
%D 2013
%I Rutgers Graduate School of Education
%X The power of teacher unions in the U.S. has waned since the 2010 mid-term elections.  The convergence of business conservatism and teacher accountability ideologies has led to an intense targeting of public teacher unions as a problem, both economically and educationally.  Using the target audience framework of Schneider and Ingram (1993), I break down the framing used in the present anti-union movement and explore a local example of anti-union legislation in Pennsylvania.  The analysis reveals a socially constructed dichotomy in which victimized children are pitted against greedy teachers.  To stem this wave of anti-unionism, teacher unions must recognize their position as public contenders and rearticulate their message using child-first rhetoric.
%K teacher unions
%K policy rhetoric
%K target audiences
%U http://maereview.org/index.php/maer/article/view/4