Maher: Teachers' Unions Are Problem, Not Lack of Funding, Unions Even Hurt Good Teachers at Times

During the online “Overtime” segment of Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that teachers’ unions, not lack of funding are the problem in public schools.

“Conversations w/Coleman” host and Free Press columnist Coleman Hughes stated, “I think people on the left want to blame funding, because that’s the easy issue. … The problem isn’t the funding, it’s that you can’t fire anyone bad.”

Maher responded, “Yes. … The problem is, the union, the teachers’ union is too powerful. We’ve seen it in results, in states where the union is less powerful, the schools do better.”

Maher added, “The unions protect the bad schools and bad teachers and the party protects the union. It’s almost impossible, in a lot of these cities, to fire a teacher.”

Maher further stated, “It’s not money. That’s what you always hear from the left, oh, it’s underfunded. It’s not the funding. The funding isn’t the issue.”

Maher then said, “I think this is the kind of thing I will never hear on MS NOW.”

MS NOW host Ali Vitali responded that the network has plenty of perspective and pointed to her speaking to Republicans.

Maher also agreed with Vitali that unions help protect teachers. Hughes added, “Teachers’ unions also prevent — sometimes they prevent the best teachers from being rewarded for being the best.” Maher agreed.

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