Posted on 11/20/2009 9:02:33 PM PST by neverdem
We’re All Right-Wing Bastards Now
—that is, if the NEA’s logic is to be believed.
20 November 2009
Take the nation’s 4,000 charter schools—public schools that operate with less red tape, fewer suffocating union rules, and a higher percentage of minorities and poor students than regular public schools do. In California, 12 of the top 15 public schools are charters, including three in Oakland that cater to exceptionally poor children. Los Angeles charters’ median score on California’s Academic Performance Index (API) was 728 in 2008, compared with 663 for regular public schools.
Who are the “right-wing bastards” who support charter schools? Well, there’s Los Angeles’s liberal-leaning school board, which looked at its large number of failing schools and voted 6–1 to turn 200 of the lowest performers into charters. There’s Steve Barr, a card-carrying Democrat who served in the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and Michael Dukakis and who now operates 17 successful Green Dot charter schools in L.A. And don’t forget Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee that supports charters and that says, in its statement of principles, that American public schools, “once viewed romantically as avenues of opportunity for all, have become captive to powerful, entrenched interests that too often put the demands of adults before the educational needs of children.”
“Entrenched interests” is a thinly veiled reference, of course, to teachers’ unions like the NEA, whose position on charter schools is very clear. According to a resolution adopted at this year’s convention, “NEA shall oppose any initiative to greatly expand the growth of charter schools”—though “by no means should this effort conflict with the ongoing and necessary work of organizing charter school teachers.” Unfortunately, this “necessary” work hasn’t helped students. A study of charter schools in Boston by Harvard economist Tom Kane found that “students accepted by lottery at independently operated charter schools significantly outperformed students who lost the lottery and returned to district schools. But students accepted by lottery at charters run by the school district with unionized teachers experienced no benefit.”
The NEA fights school vouchers even more fiercely than it opposes charters. In Washington, D.C., where public schools are a national embarrassment—tops in spending, last in achievement—the union set its sights on the Opportunity Scholarship Program. This tiny but successful voucher program gave 1,700 financially strapped parents, mostly poor African-Americans, the opportunity to free their children from horrendous public schools, getting a few thousand of their tax dollars back to help pay the tuition at private schools of their choosing. A number of the 1,700 lucky lottery winners were able to attend Sidwell Friends, the same school that President Obama’s daughters attend.
Here’s what NEA president Dennis Van Roekel wrote to Democratic congressmen in March:
The National Education Association strongly opposes any extension of the District of Columbia private school voucher . . . program. We expect that Members of Congress who support public education, and whom we have supported, will stand firm against any proposal to extend the pilot program. Actions associated with these issues WILL be included in the NEA Legislative Report Card for the 111th Congress.
Vouchers are not real education reform. . . . Opposition to vouchers is a top priority for NEA.
Three months later, Congress dutifully voted to kill the program. Who are the “right-wing bastards” here? The black parents and children who benefited from the voucher program?
Just two days before Chanin’s speech, the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights released a report, National Teachers’ Unions and the Struggle Over School Reform, maintaining that the teachers’ unions consistently blocked meaningful education reform and accusing the NEA of trying to end enforcement of the No Child Left Behind act. The unions “almost uniformly call for the spending of more money and the creation of more teaching positions which, of course, result in an increase in union membership, union income and union power,” wrote one of the authors, David Kilpatrick. Perhaps the report’s authors are the “right-wing bastards” Chanin was talking about? The problem is that Kilpatrick spent 12 years as a top union officer, while the study’s other authors include former senators Bill Bradley and Birch Bayh, D.C. congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and civil rights leader Roger Wilkins—all liberals.
That Democratic leaders and poor African-Americans in Washington have found common cause with the Wall Street Journal and Fox News shows that school reform is neither a liberal nor a conservative issue. While Chanin champions the power of an entrenched union and belittles those who oppose it, people of goodwill across the political spectrum fight back for real education reform.
Larry Sand, a classroom teacher in Los Angeles for more than 28 years, is the president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network.
Yeah the NEA’s done just a terrific job with all that money
Especially with the inner city schools.
That’s right, it’s Fox News’ fault.
Good Lord where do they find these idiots?
Just speaking as someone in the trenches of our public schools - the union which is supposed to represent me is a cancer on the body politic. Destroying the NEA would be a good first step toward making our schools work again.
A slight correction:
The type of liberal social and economic agenda that PEOPLE WHO CAN THINK find objectionable.
;-)
Seriously, I’d rather be considered a bastard than have to live with the biggest M’F’n MARXIST of all time who is now in control...
NEA members should face a 5% federal Surtax on their income. Lawyers should face a 10% tax on Their Billings and 5% on their Income!
They hate Sarah Palin, too.
And Gay lifestyle uber alles is the latest trendy thing...
[The NEA is] “the nation’s leading advocates for public education and the type of liberal social and economic agenda that these groups find objectionable.”
Even a liberal ought to ask why the NEA concerns itself with a "social and economic agenda" and doesn't stick to the task of representing teachers in the workplace, which is its charge.
The original and only true right wing bastards: 2ndBattalion, 4th Marines
“The Magnificent Bastards”
As a teacher, you need the NEA legal protection and you don't need blackballed by other teachers. They get us for a few gran in union dues but also send us NEA today every month; good for a few laughs towards the left. Too much politics with school boards and parents nowadays.
The NEA’s solution to public education’s problems is forever to throw more money at it(/them).
It is much better to be a right-wing conservative bas&ard than a left-wing, psychotic scu&bag.
IMHO
True not just with the NEA but with all unions. Unions give nearly all their money to Democrats so the more union members the more money to give, money taken from members paychecks. That is why Democrats favor bigger government as government workers are forced to be union members.
That is also why they want card check, to force even more people to put money into liberal coffers.
Others of the same ilk are the race hustlers like Jackson, Sharpton, ACORN, NAACP, and those flying under false colors like the ACLU, the National Council of Churches, etc.
They all claim to champion a cause and they make a lot of money from it, much of which they donate to the Democrats. Yet, the problems they claim to be solving never get solved but instead get worse. Why? No problem, no money.
Our enemies, the Left/Democrats, have always found a way to get honest, hard working Americans to fund their effort to destroy us. You rarely find them in regular free enterprise jobs but mostly in government or government sponsored NGAs.
As in most cases, follow the money.
What legal protection do you need? Protection from what? Black balled by whom, the liberal teachers?
Don't you realize the "few grand" you give them in dues is used primarily to fund those causes you say you are against and you think it is worth it to receive a monthly union rag?
You are just excusing yourself for being in the enemy's camp and keeping quiet about it so as to protect your job. You are not alone and I don't condemn you for it, well not entirely. Many teachers are in the same boat.
I know quite a few union members from all walks of life. All are living a contradiction. They defend their union but vote against all the union stands for. I am happy they do oppose the union politics but defending and opposing at the same time has to be hard on the psyche.
Have you exercised your Beck rights? If not, per the US Supreme Court decision Communications Workers v. Beck, you have a right to deprive the NEA of that fraction of your dues that goes to political campaign contributions.
Many years ago, I also once thought that we could fight the NEA and deny them our union dues too. Then I received a call from a local repub official that I knew. She put me in touch with a former Repub teacher who was forced outta teaching by the NEA & her fellow teachers over her refusal to pay union dues. Basically they come after you, set you up, if you become too controversal, better to live your life, vote & support conservative issues. Much better than losing your state teaching certificate and rendering your expensive/valuable teaching degree worthless.
Reality is the ed industry is chock full of left wingers at the top, nobody is going to change that truth. They will blackball you and get you if you become too politically opposed to their view.
Conservative school board members will never support conservative teachers, you’re an easy mark for them. They need to feed the masses too, just like in the old Roman days. Conservatives are half the problem for Conservative Teachers in America, they should support their repub teachers but never do.
Unless you have experienced the politics (as a teacher) you have no way of understanding what I’m speaking about. I actually don’t know all that many people who would jepardize their employment picture over politics in today’s world; contradiction or not; (LETS BE REAL HERE).
In Alaska, I’d say 35% of NEA members are conservatives, Repubs or members of Ak Independence Party.
Bottomline, is conservative teachers need the legal protection the NEA provides and the politics in our ed system is the reason why. Keep your personal beliefs to yourself, vote, donate, stay active away from the school, and survive. Ask any teachers that you know and they will tell you the same truths, no joke. Ya know, the only time I talk politics with fellow teachers is around the fire, when they come up to my moose camp to hunt every fall, ha. Then , we argue.
NEA claims they only spend 15 bucks/year on political pacs, they rebate that back to us. 15 bucks outta thousands, big deal. No way of beating them. Conservatives should support their repub teachers, never do though. Hate them all.
Ya know, the only time I talk politics with fellow teachers is around the fire, when they come up to my moose camp to hunt every fall, ha. Then , we argue.
I am glad you resist the urge to shoot a couple of them. :-)
All you ever hear from Democrats and the NEA is the need for more money to hire more teachers and to build or repair more schools. Smaller classes mean more teachers, etc. The reason that is their hot button is that each will bring in more union members, more money, and on and on. All new school construction has to be done with union labor in most instances.
My point is that it is a shame you have to support the parasites who suck your lifes blood in order to stay alive yourself.
btt
The union will say it’s a teeny-tiny fraction of the dues. We all know that must be creative accounting. Back when I was a teacher it was around $3 out of the $70 monthly payment they stole out of my paycheck each month.
They might say the amount deducted is insignificant, but it is only because they perceive it so against the risk of reprisal. Were that risk insignificant, they would be more likely to exercise that right, after all, if it's only $15 a month that's $180 a year in your pocket. Why not have the $180? Heck, they could spend that money on a conservative candidate instead, and you can bet that it would be both needed and appreciated.
Hence, that they do not exercise that right, they are admitting cowardice and deserve the consequences, for they are spending that $180 on supporting Slave Party candidates.
Believe me, if one spends 5 years in school to attain an ed degree, then jumps thru all the hoops, background checks, testing, continuously paying for/taking classes to keep certs current, work 14 hour/days doing school related activities (in school & at home) to make a decent livng doing something that's quite enjoyable;;;; it sounds completely nuts to rock the boat and be looking for new employment in our world today. I really like the summers off too actually.
I did donate a couple hundred to Palin last year. We have voted for repubs since before Reagen, write letters to our unresponsive politicals, and generally keep up on what;s going on.
By the way, talking about cowardice & consequences makes you sound quite foolish, where have you been all your life? You sound as bad as the libs that claim the rich will have to pay for nat health care for everybody.
No offense, we'll keep our positions, continue to vote for conservatives, live our lives, and scratch our heads at your outlook.
No offense intended, but you may go into defensive mode long before you ever finish reading this post. I may be wrong about you, but there are a whole lot of people in other fields, not just in teaching, who feel about the same as you do.
What I am referring to? To your wonderfully frank line: “it sounds completely nuts to rock the boat.” That is precisely the predicament that those who are out to steal our liberty have created for you. They know precisely how you feel and have been making a winning gamble that you and those like you will do nothing to undermine their racket if it will endanger your own. See my tag line.
There are so many regs (statism) and collectivist thugs (fascism) that you feel up the creek without a paddle to do real battle with them. The threat of getting out of the canoe and portaging out of the ever dwindling lake our masters have you locked up in isn’t that difficult were you to wildcat strike, and if done right, it would put the fear of God into those schemers who’ve been milking you and us all these years. When it comes time to retire, you won’t like what they have planned for you (and they aren’t talking about it either).
But canoes are so easily upset: can’t even stand up like a man cause it may rock the boat (ruining your relatively ok status quo). The water simply doesn’t hot enough to jump out, eh brother frog?
I spent five years in school, worked 90 hour weeks, lived a quarter of my year out of the country, and gave up my career to pursue an injustice, not so much to me as to others, from which I have yet to earn a dime. So far, it has cost me over !,000,000 in lost income not to mention nearly a decade of brutally physical and demeaning work.
No sale.
LOL. When I pinged you, I didn’t dare emphasize that phrase. It kinds stood up and did handstands and threatened to alight fireworks all on its own. :)
Actually, sch dist policy dictates those sort of things in our schools. I guess I could start a federal case about the Union dues, but I would eventually find myself unemployed as a teacher. I prefer to stay where I'm at, even if it means they are stealing 2 gran/year in dues.
You're off the deep end about boiling frogs; not reality for vast majority of Americans. I remember back in 90's. I had friends playing army at night in the woods, their militia games. I laughed at them too.
If it does come down to a complete collapse of our system, we're pretty well set in rural Alaska. I sure wouldn't want to be in any urban area depending on dollars & retirements. In other words, there will be many others worse off than me.
I just don't get too radical about anything anymore. The pendulum swings back and forth, not much changes; been that way for many years. Again, no offense meant either, just difference of opinion. Life has been good.
C.O. Boy I would never do what you have done. Our incomes allow us live a good life. I guess some of us go off on crusades and others just see a different real world. No offense, I hope you achieve what you’re after. We have our kids raised, in school, and quite happy/content with the rest of our lives too.
You may have had it good living off the capital bought at the price of blood, but the price is yet to be paid. If you can't see it, then you'd best open your eyes.
What is correct is that a vast majority of Americans haven't yet met up with reality.
I understand the conservative view point. You have it in spades. "Just leave me tend to my problems and you tend to yours." 'Cepting that we will be cursed by the posterity we will have enslaved with the money robbed by the current gang of thieves, and robbed of the opportunities we have (for the most part) taken for granted. I tend to be grateful for those who've made my life good, and thus think it my duty to try and persuade others that perhaps we OWE it to them to do the same for those to come. Perhaps you won't let that trouble you as much today as you might in days to come. Let's pray it never comes to that.
You're right about the urbanites too; I'm one of them, and report from the worst of it. E.g., voter fraud has been rampant here for close to 20 years, and the Republican party has been too "conservative" to rock that boat. They positively have hate in their eyes for me when I asked what they were going to do about it. And that was when we had a GOP secretary of state.
So, you see how your aversion to "rocking the boat" is merely a more innocuous version of a much more virulent disease? You are certainly not to blame for those who sit and do nothing in areas of America far from you. But in an Edmond Burke, father of conservatism, sort of warning, it is a caution if not reprimand to all those who lay claim his political view.
I'm not singling you out either Eska. More than anything, the single most common trait of conservatives is "LEAVE ME BE!" That, and there are a whole lot of conservatives who want to protect their principal and will let their "leaders" to worry about principle. There's much humor in that vision. And again, there is Matthew 19:24. "Life has been good" will surely be understood well.
No argument from me about that! I agree. The point is that I suspect that through “creative accounting” and nebulous jobs even those who DO opt out still end up having their dollars put towards political goals anyway.
By the way, back then I asked about opting out of the union entirely, but was told that to do so, I had to come up with the entire amount of “dues” at the beginning of the year. IOW, pay the entire amount up front instead of merely being robbed of $70 per month out of my paycheck. I didn’t have $840, being young and broke, so union it was for a couple of years. Until I moved to a state that does not compel union membership. If unions were actually helpful, states wouldn’t have to force people to join. Ours never did anything for us. They’ll take credit for the fact that public school teachers are more highly paid than private school teachers. The thing is, if teacher to student ratios had been kept constant over the past 40 or so years, teacher pay would be much higher than it is now because there would be far fewer teachers. In some places there would be half as many teachers. Instead, in some places as class sizes decreased, we got a lot of young, dumb teachers hired because they were warm bodies. Educational quality decreased, but since almost every teacher contributes to the union, the total union dues went way up. Most of this history applies to California, but it probably happened in many other states as well.
In short, I have nothing against collective bargaining as a matter of free association, but legally enforced monopolies are destructive to product quality and wealth generation.
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