[summer]

I don't always like his writing, but this is an A+ column. Great job, Carl. :)

[summer]

FYI.

[Henk]

His books are hilarious.

[FreePaul]

I don't get his column but I never miss a chance to read a Carl Hiaasen book. He always carries an enviornmentalist message but with good humor. The June Smithsonian magazine has an article about him. He sounds as if he really is interested in the enviornment unlike some of the crazies who just want to shut down progress.

[cardinal4]

His books are hysterical.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Ironic. If you don't join the Unions, you are referred to as a scab. Yet I view the Unions as scabs on the body of America's workforce.

[ampat]

No wonder people are screaming that we need to pour more money into education. Why isn't that guy in jail?

[ampat]

Sounds like a good topic for O'Reilly.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Hey! How did this guy get a job with a Teacher's Union? He obviously is more qualified to run my Teamster's union.

Anybody going to Vegas soon please check on the Casino that used to be the parking lot that used to be a Casino that used to be my pension fund.

[LiteKeeper]

bump

[ReagansShinyHair]

Oo, I can't stand being forced into the teacher's union. I just know they are partying on my nickel. Or $800. Most of the teachers I know hate it, too. They don't do anything their supposed to do for us when they negotiate contracts, and they don't represent the political interests of us, either. Most of the teachers at my school are conservative, and our Union (of course) is liberal.

Here's why people join unions.

In my teacher's union, you can refuse to join. If you refuse, you still pay. You can send your money to one of three charities they choose. Ok so far. BUT - Here's the really bad part. You have to pay all the money up front. This means that instead of paying dues out of my paycheck each month, I was told that I would have to pay $2000(!!!!) all up front. At the beginning of the school year. In cash. Before I get my first paycheck of the year. Since when do I have $2000 to pay the union up front?

The Union rep also lied to me about the option to refuse to let any of your dues be put toward political contributions. When I asked to opt out, they told me it was $3 a month. I didn't bother, even though I should have on principle. I found out this month that it's really almost half of your dues, and if you choose the option they give you the money back at the end of the year. Apparantly, there are some conservative teachers at my school who do this each year. They are furious with the union, too, mostly because we got what amounts to a $5000 pay cut this year. BTW, administration and the district offices didn't. The only teachers who I know truly love the union are the incompetent ones.

In all fairness, we did have an issue where one of our classrooms was totally unusable due to filth and infestation, and our union did come through and negotiate for the district to clean it up post haste. That was a small, small thing compared to the bad things that unions do. I had no idea the unions were all so terrible until the past year. I plan to be much more involved in mine from now on.