Jeb Bush Hammers Teachers Unions

Says performance evaluations not something that should be part of collective bargaining agreements

In the fight to reform American schools, former Florida Gov. and outspoken education advocate Jeb Bush on Tuesday took direct aim at labor groups and joined a growing chorus who believe real change must start by loosening the grip of teachers unions.

"We need to have a teacher evaluation system that is based on teachers being professionals, not part of some collective trade union bargaining process," said Mr. Bush, chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education Reform, which kicked off its national summit in D.C. on Tuesday.

"We have a system to reward teachers that's based on an industrialized, unionized model that is completely inappropriate for the 21st century," Mr. Bush continued. "There are incredibly fine teachers that get paid less even though they're doing the Lord's work consistently over time, and there are teachers that are mediocre that get paid more because they've been there longer."