R.I. Official Says Teachers' Unions Are 'Ineffective'

The executive secretary of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction told a Harkness Commons audience last night that teachers must support educational associations instead of labor unions.

Joseph Young told a forum on "Why Teachers' Organizations?" that such all-inclusive associations represent the whole field of education and consequently are a much more effective lobby group than unions which represent only teachers and which have a far more limited scope.

Calling on a briefcase of statistics, Young asserted that people don't pass legislation just because it's good. "You need all kinds of devices to get things through."

Marie A'Hearn, a local high school teacher, claimed that it was logical for a group to represent teachers only, "since they have different problems from administrators." What benefits teachers benefits education, she charged, and then claimed that the American Federation of Teachers offers legal assistance and contacts ordinarily unavailable.

"The Teachers' Group is affiliated with the AFL," Miss A'Hearn added.