> And yet, those same teachers overwhelmingly support left-wing teachers unions and politicians who perpetuate the current environment. <
There is some truth there, but only some. I taught in an urban school district. Every last city official was a Democrat. But we teachers pretty much mirrored society as a whole. There were conservatives, liberals, and everything in between.
As for the union leadership, oh yes they were one-sided. Every one of them was either left or far left.
So how could the rank-and-file be so balanced, and the union leadership be so leftist? Well, at election time the leadership would pull stunts that would make Stalin blush. A group of us even once saw a lawyer about that. We wanted to sue the union. The lawyer looked into it, and told us nothing could be done.
Poor very old lady. That said...did her long voting history in NYC include any votes for DIMs/LIBs/leftists? If so...she reaped what she sowed. Welcome to the party.