Posted on 02/02/2012 1:40:18 AM PST by jellybean
I didn't pay much attention to teachers unions until Wisconsin's private unions decided to meddle in public education. But now I wish I'd been paying attention sooner.
Some of you may remember that in 2009, several private unions pushed Wisconsin lawmakers to revise a statute that ordered public schools to give students "knowledge of state, national and world history." The AFL-CIO, Teamsters Union, the United Transportation Union and other private unions wanted lawmakers to add "including knowledge of the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process" onto the end of the sentence.
They had decided this generation of kids needed to be more pumped up about unions. The Wisconsin Labor History Society claimed, "Teaching about labor has been largely ignored in our schools." The state AFL-CIO president complained that most textbooks might only have "half a dozen paragraphs" devoted to the history of labor unions.
I was skeptical. My Sept. 29 column pointed out that a U.S. history textbook used by Baraboo High School addressed 69 labor-related topics, which was 22 more than the entries devoted to the civil rights movement. I thought legislators ought to reject a bill that was not only unnecessary, but was a blatant case of unions calling in a favor.
But Democrats controlled Wisconsin that year, so they passed the bill. And that's when I learned Democrats will do anything the unions tell them to, even if they look like toadies doing it.
But that's not the only thing I learned. I expected the teachers unions to rebuff trade unions for criticizing teachers and telling them how to do their jobs. Surely the Wisconsin Education Association Council and the American Federation of Teachers would tell the private union guys to go mind their own beeswax.
But no, WEAC and the AFT sided with them and agreed the statute ought to be amended. And that was the second thing I learned. Teachers unions serve union interests first. Teachers come second.
And children come third, I realized, as I watched the teachers unions fight much-needed education reform initiatives in favor of maintaining a status quo that protected incompetent teachers and failing schools. They fought until Secretary of Education Arne Duncan scolded them in 2011, saying, "Clearly, the status quo isn't working for children."
And taxpayers? I learned we don't come into consideration at all. In 2009, the teachers unions got Gov. Jim Doyle to eliminate the Qualified Economic Offer, which meant there no longer were any limits to what they could demand in their contracts. The Democrats also cut state aid to schools by nearly $300 million that year - a fact that Gov. Scott Walker recallers have conveniently forgotten - placing school districts between a rock and a hard place.
They collected the maximum amount from taxpayers that revenue caps would allow, but this still didn't cover expenses. The teachers unions insisted the Democrats had to bump up revenue caps again, but lawmakers didn't want to anger voters with another tax hike. So, many school districts reluctantly initiated referendums to generate more tax revenue. This created bitter divisions in our communities as taxpayers were pitted against school employees.
Wisconsin was fighting over school funding long before Scott Walker arrived on the scene because nobody could figure out how to fix the revenue shortfalls. It seemed impossible. Remember all that? The acrimonious school board meetings, the angry letters to the editor, the witch hunt for someone to blame from among the school board, teachers or administration?
Want to do it again? Just forget how things really were when teachers unions got to collectively bargain for benefits. Forget how they duped us into believing yearly tax hikes were necessary "for the kids" when they inflated school budgets by millions every year with their over-priced health-care plans.
They really played us with that guilt card, didn't they? It worked year after year, and they're hoping it'll keep working as they try to convince us we'll all be better off with their handpicked union steward in the governor's mansion.
But smart voters will remember their labor history lessons: Teachers unions serve union interests first, teachers second, students third and taxpayers never. If you want taxpayers instead of unions to control Wisconsin, you'll want to keep Gov. Scott Walker in office.
Ellen Bueno has lived in Baraboo for more than 20 years and is the reader member of the editorial board of the News Republic, the Daily Register's sister paper.
Wisconsin ping.
This has been the case for decades. As a former teacher and school administrator, I witnessed this dynamic on the local, state and national level.
Do you agree the government ought to get out of education, completely?
Teachers unions represent teachers.And their interesrs are often not the same.
Wisconsin Teacher Agenda Ping
If you want on, or off, theis Wisconsin interest ping list, just FReep Mail me.
Would that "history" include knowledge of union corruption, mob involvement, and thuggery, and would it include a list of the companies that unions have put out of business, or forced out of the country?
>Do you agree the government ought to get out of education, completely?
Wholeheartedly!
We homeschool all our 9 children.
Make the sacrifices necessary either to educate your own children, enroll them in a private or church/synagogue school, or form your own school cooperative with like-minded friends, neighbors, and relatives.
The union-run, government-funded school collective is the biggest, most expensive entitlement program in the country.
When the school cooperative model fostered by Noah Webster morphed into the school collective Horace Mann introduced from Prussia, it ceased to be compliant with the Constitution.
The school collective soon brought with it “compulsory attendance” laws, as well as broad-based funding from taxes imposed upon citizens who had no need for “public schools”. With the introduction of teachers’ unions in the 20th century, the communization of the schools was complete.
Since then, the quality of education in this country has been falling to the lowest common denominator, as has its morality. Most government school collectives have the moral compass of an MTV rapper video.
The sooner we abandon this completely failed social experiment, the better.
Ostensibly about NJ, but applies across the board (of ed):
The Cartel. If you have prime membership it is free. Even if not, it is worth it.
Meant only the first two hits on that page.
I think they missed a few things about magnet and charter schools, but it is well done, and nice to see someone not automatically labeled a loony or homeschooler doing this sort of work. Gets comments from both sides of the aisle.
Streaming is:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Cartel/dp/B004CWJ24C/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1328204177&sr=1-1
The Cartel
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American public schools are failing, despite leading the world in spending per student. THE CARTEL examines how the richest society on earth lost the ability to teach its children.
Starring: Bob Bowdon, Rev. Reginald Jackson
Directed by: Bob Bowdon
Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes
Release year: 2010
Studio: Warner Bros.
Bravo. We only did 2, and that was tough enough.
> and that was tough enough.
Amen! I hear you! And my heart goes out to you!
Homeschooling is NOT a hayride. And we have two special needs kids.
But Liberty brings with it Responsibility.
“Do you agree the government ought to get out of education, completely?”
I agree that public sector unions are counter to the public interest, which is the theme of this thread.
Your question re: role of government is a very different issue. Public schooling - local government funded and controlled - was a cornerstone of American progress and still functions well when parents are interested, organized and involved.
However, as demographics change and the US population ages, there will be intense local pressure on local schools.
Thanks jellybean.
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