In my new book, published by Haymarket books, I explain why we need a social movement of teachers, working as respectful allies with parents and communities, to save public education. Part of this process is transforming teachers unions, to make them vital and democratic. 

We face a critical historic juncture, and this new book draws on my experience as a teacher, teacher-union activist, as well as my knowledge as a teacher-educator and researcher about what we can do now to create the teachers unions we need.

 Another resource you'll want to use is the website run by Mary Compton, www.teachersolidarity.com.  Mary and I are the  co-editors of "The Global Assault on Teaching, Teachers, and Their Unions: Stories for Resistance," a collective of essays by teachers, teacher-union activists, and researchers that describes the chilling project of political and economic elites that aims to make schools serve the desires of transnational corporations.