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The teachers’ unions have an impressive record of terminating reformers. When Marietta Giannakou, the education minister in the last New Democracy government in Greece, insisted on teacher accountability, she lost her seat at the next election. Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of the awful school system in Washington, DC, closed failing schools, fired more than 200 ineffective teachers and principals, and advocated merit pay. But the unions fought her every step of the way, using their muscle first to get rid of her patron, the city’s mayor, and then to bring about her own resignation.
It is impossible to calculate the cost of the unions’ inflexibility. But several recent studies provide some indications. Policy Exchange, a conservative think-tank, calculates that people in the British private sector work 23% more hours than their public-sector counterparts over their lifetimes, thanks to public-sector strikes, sick days and early retirement. Barry Bluestone, a left-wing economist, calculates that the price of America’s public services increased by 41% in 2000-08, while that of private services rose by 27%. Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford University, argues that replacing the bottom 5-8% of American teachers with merely average performers could move the United States from near the bottom to near the top of the international maths and science rankings.

A. 어휘
terminate 끝장내다, 해고하다. reformers 개혁가.
teacher accountability 교사에게 학생들의 성적에 대한 책임을 묻는 것.
chancellor 교육감, 총장, 학장. ineffective 무능한.
advocate 옹호하다. merit pay 실적에 따라 봉급을 지급하는 것.
muscle 압력, 근육. resignation 사임.
inflexibility 硬直性(경직성), 不撓不屈(불요불굴).
indications 徵候(징후), 지시. conservative 보수적인.
think-tank 연구소. calculate 계산하다. counterparts 상대인, 대응물.
left-wing 좌익.