California Teachers' Association (AKA teachers' union) confronts Governator

This article foreshadows the fight Governor Schwarzenegger has on his hands this year with the teachers' union:

Also in the mix is Schwarzenegger's proposal to pay teachers based on merit instead of length of service - something vigorously opposed by the teachers union.
...
None of the members of the education coalition would comment on the idea, but several said they would not shy away from a direct confrontation.

'We can't afford to be intimidated,' Wells said. 'If we have to go to the public, we'll state our case, just as the governor will state his. I'm encouraged - voters have put their faith in us in the past; I don't think we will be viewed as a special interest.'

Interesting how the merit-pay proposal is termed as being "vigorously opposed by the teachers union" but they're confident that the voters will put their faith in them as they have in the past. It's obvious that the union opposes anything having to do with pay for performance - it's a union's purpose to protect their members (especially their poorly-performing ones) from things like accountability and responsibility. What I'd like to do is take each individual teacher aside and ask them, one at a time, "Do you think you're a good teacher? You realize that pay for performance means good teachers make more, bad teachers make less, right? As a self-described good teacher, why would you shy away from your performance being used as an indicator determining pay?" I seriously doubt that a majority of the state's teachers are in lockstep with the union on this one.