The folks at Netbase, a company that collates online opinion and sentiment, sent me a couple of graphics on overall reaction and what surprises me is not the positive-negative split, though that is interesting.

FORBES: Connect

When the public was asked to choose between a simple positive and negative assessment, however, it split down the middle: 51% said unions had a negative impact, while 49% said their effect was positive.

WSJ: Peterson, Howell and West: Teachers Unions Have a Popularity Problem