Moderated by Joe Mathews, Irvine Senior Fellow, New America Foundation

Or are they not powerful enough? Politicians and reformers often complain about the power of teachers’ unions to dominate elections — from local school boards to the governor’s race — and frustrate their plans to improve education. Yet teachers still don’t have the power to receive pay commensurate with their education, the institutional support and instructional resources they need, or even — at least in Los Angeles — accurate paychecks. Now a rising generation of teachers’ union leaders in the state say the labor organizations must add to their power and reach by tackling broader social and governmental problems that hurt schools.  Zócalo has assembled a distinguished panel to examine the promise and limits of the power of the teachers’ unions. Joining us are: Joshua Pechthalt, a vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles, is part of a group of one-time union dissidents who have risen to power with an eye towards more aggressive organizing around issues that extend far beyond union contracts; Mikki Cichocki, a board member of the California Teachers Association, the largest teachers’ union in the country, will offer thoughts on the statewide picture; David Tokofsky, a former school board member in LAUSD, offers his perspective as someone who has fought with and against big teachers’ unions; and Steve Barr, founder and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools, discusses the role of unions in the charter school movement. They’ll talk about how unions can support—and block—education reform.