If you're a parent who has a child in a big city public school system, you are probably aware of the anti-reform attitude held by unions that end up stifling innovation and condemning students to an inferior education.

Union work rules at most public schools are an absolute drag on school reform as unions seek to undermine the very concept of charter schools. They are a mortal threat to their centralized power structure as well as the hold they have over the educational process.

In New York, teachers at two charter schools are begging the state to allow them to decertify their union - the United Federation of Teachers - because they want to interfere in the administration of very successful operations.

Ryan Sager of the New York Post gives us some background:

Basically, charters represent accountability -- for teachers and for schools. Most charters, especially those belonging to the nationwide KIPP network, have succeeded based on a strong collaboration between teachers and administrators. Teachers agree to work hard, be held accountable and to work knowing that if they don't perform they can be let go.

The KIPP model is intense, with an extended school day, Saturday classes and a rigorous focus on advising and guiding kids all the way to college. But the teachers there are tremendously dedicated, and their schools outperform traditional public schools to an often-stunning degree. And, not for nothing, KIPP teachers generally earn at least $10,000 a year more than their counterparts at traditional public schools.

The teachers union, on the other hand, sees any school proving that accountability works as a mortal threat.

That's why teachers-union head Randi Weingarten and her Albany puppets have tried to stomp out the charter movement at every turn. They tried to stop the state from passing a charter-school law; they made sure there was a tight cap on the number of charters allowed in New York, and they constantly try to get the schools' funding yanked.