On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Cass Elementary School in Livonia, Michigan aired a video of still images of Obama, with a speech by King and – strangely – a Bob Marley song playing in the background.

The students looked about as interested as if they were watching paint dry.

It’s unclear how long the song actually was, as the citizen journalist video is 1:20 long and the song was clearly longer.

But why do these examples keep popping up?  Why is he routinely portrayed in a mythical context?  While it’s important to honor our president, these examples border on propaganda fit for a dictator.

It’s obvious the teachers unions love Obama.  Many of their members do, too.  After all, both national unions – the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers – have both already endorsed him for re-election.  They didn’t even bother to wait to see who his eventual opponent will be.

But the indoctrination campaign for our dear leader is on, and thankfully parents or teachers or whoever they are – keep recording the incidents and posting them for all to see.  Perhaps eventually, the propagandists will be shamed into stopping.

According to reports published by the National Staff Organization – a group made up of NEA and state affiliate union staffers:

“Fifteen states are considered to be financially distressed because of membership loss and their very survival is in jeopardy. And because of financial hardship, 41 state executives are on NEA’s payroll instead of being paid by their state. Two states—Indiana and South Carolina—remain under an NEA trusteeship.”

Teachers union accounts are buying red pens by the box these days.

NSO President Chuck Agerstrand called it a lesson in “trickle-down economics.”

Or maybe it’s just “trickle-down karma.”

It’s ironic that the very same financial problems unions have created for government schools – through collectively bargained contracts that give annual, automatic pay raises and world class benefits – are now appearing in their own organizations.

The teacher unions’ laser-like focus on left wing politics means that state legislatures – many of which are currently controlled by Tea Party Republicans – have no incentive to help rescue them.

The unions’ chickens have come home to roost, as the saying goes.

What’s the solution?  Creating a “culture of organizing,” according to the NSO, which wants to boost the number of dues payers and thus soothe the financial problems.  So prior to the 7-day Caribbean cruise, staffers participated in a three-day retreat to learn how to better organize.

The staffers studied organizing theory charts and read quotes from Saul Alinsky. The National Education Association is now teaching an organizing method the Service Employees International Union has been using as well: “Constant Organizing Goals.”

In a 2010 PowerPoint document, SEIU described the COG method this way:

“[It] requires unions to build public relationships involving a quid pro quo interchange driven by self-interest and guaranteed by mutual accountability.”

This underscores the notion that the union’s strategy is to meet its needs first and not seek what is in the best interest of students or taxpayers.

The NEA’s bargaining strategy method has these four steps:

1. Educate
2. Agitate
3. Escalate
4. Evaluate

The further into the process, the theory goes, the more power is built.  But the power, of course, is for high salaries, better benefits, and fewer responsibilities.  That’s great for the adults, but doesn’t do much for the students.

But after all – it’s not about the students.  Somebody has to bail water out of the sinking union boat and it’s not going to be students.  Teachers, grab a bucket.

What to do?  What else to do but go down drinking?

That’s what members of the National Education Association’s National Staff Organization have apparently decided.  The NSO is an association of sorts for teachers’ union staff – political and communications types.

Following an “Advocacy Retreat” with the theme “Building Our Unionism,” members set sail on a 7-day cruise from Miami on February 5^th “with stops at Cozumel, Grand Cayman Island and Isla Roatan.”  Sounds fun!  [In case the Facebook link disappears, never fear: here’s a PDF of the NSO newsletter.]

Guess what union staff?  There are going to be cameras all over the ship documenting your every move – from every Fuzzy Navel to every game of shuffle board. Just think how your rank-and-file members might appreciate seeing all the “fun in the sun” you’re having, courtesy of their dues dollars.

Dues payers – especially those in states with compulsory unionism – can think fondly this week about their “employees” cavorting in the Caribbean as they’re looking at layoffs, decreased pay and increased insurance co-pays.

(Technically, NEA staffers exist to serve the union members. That might come as a surprise to some, considering that those roles have been reversed for decades.)

Incredibly, this isn’t the first cruise NEA staffers have taken.  Last year, the destination was the Mexican Rivera, according to the trip’s contact person.  Next year, who knows?  As long as the members keep paying, who cares?

As the union staffers set sail, I hope they’ll remember the eyes of their dues-paying members are on them.  Bon voyage!

But that’s apparently how they roll in the Western School District, near Battle Creek, Michigan.

Apparently unaware for the past dozen years that technology can play a role in improving education, school officials want to raise taxes (about $180 annually for a $100,000 home) to pay for technology upgrades.

The school district has blurred ethical lines in order to accomplish its mission.

The “Vote Yes!” campaign posted a picture on Facebook of what appear to be elementary students standing in campaign t-shirts giving the thumbs up.  It had the caption, “These future WHS Panther wrestlers hope you support the bond proposal and vote ‘YES’ on February 28th.”

Source: Western Schools Bond Facebook page

[Here is a screen grab of the Facebook page, should it “conveniently” disappear.]

Equally disturbing, the website domain of the bond supporters, westernschoolsbond.org, is registered to none other than Western superintendent Michael Smajda.  The organization? “Western School District Bond Campaing [sic] 2012.”  The address? “1400 S. Dearing Road. Parma, MI 49269.”

That’s the address for the school district administration building.  Smajda’s taxpayer-funded email address is even listed as the website’s registrant email.

It’s illegal to use government resources for any type of political campaign, even if the goal of the campaign is to raise money for a government entity. This line has been casually crossed too many times by too many people in government, quite often educators. The state must put an end to this illegal and unethical practice, starting right now.

But the silliness was nothing new for Racine teacher Al Levie.  He has a history of using students in his personal political agenda.

Case in point is an article Levie penned for the National Education Association magazine, NEA Today, titled, “Don’t Scold, Organize!”  He concluded it by writing:

“By engaging students in real-life issues and encouraging them to act on a political level, we will transform schools into places where authentic learning takes place.

“At the same time, we will help our students become engines of positive change in our society.”

Levie wants his students to be fellow rabble rousers, and what better way than to stick to a political foe right in front of them?

The incident with Ryan, however, is only the most recent example he has set for his students.

In June, 2011, Levie was kicked out of a Wisconsin Senate Finance Committee hearing for standing in the front and reading a statement.  He was literally carried out by police.

In 2009, Levie participated in (organized?) a protest outside Ryan’s office.   The Racine Post explained it this way:

“Horlick teacher Al Levie, known for organizing high school students in political movements, was part of the crowd.”

Levie’s 2004 vote project was canceled when it was discovered the event – oops! – was just for one political party.  The Journal Times reported:

“The get out the vote project planned by Horlick High School students has been canceled.

“Racine Unified School District Superintendent Thomas Hicks said what started out to be a class-related activity last week turned out to be a partisan event. The decision to cancel the event was made Monday morning after he learned the facts had changed and it was no longer a bipartisan endeavor.”

Levie’s response?

“We’re not teaching kids good values when a learning experience can be canceled by partisan politics,” Levie said.

On a school day in 2009, the high school teacher bussed students to the state capitol for a protest against out-of-state tuition being charged to illegal immigrants.  The Racine Post reported:

“Their demands: Remove unfair restrictions on tuition and drivers licenses that discriminate against undocumented workers in Wisconsin. Most of the students were members of Students United for Immigrant Rights, a group founded at Horlick High School in 2005.”

This appears to get to the nub of Levie’s personal view.  Consider his quote from NEA Today.  Levie believes that the purpose of schools is to turn students into change agents, and he sets the example with his childish antics aimed at Congressman Paul Ryan.

So while only 57% of Racine Unified high school students are proficient in social studies, I’m willing to bet 100% of them could find Congressman Ryan’s office to protest.

That sad reality will leave students with a one-sided perspective on American policy, and likely little insight into Ryan’s conservative thought.

But that’s “real world” teaching according to Al Levie.

See the internet-only abridged version here:

While the fight for school choice rages across the nation, perhaps no better example exists than that of the Windy City.  Traditional alliances are breaking down.  Both political parties are pushing for education reform and expanded school choice.  The status quo is under attack, because most reasonable people understand that thousands of Chicago students are trapped in failing schools.

But the education establishment, led by the radical Chicago Teachers Union, is not willing to give an inch to allow better choices for underserved students. And the union still has enough money, influence and legal standing to make reform efforts difficult to implement.

The film features the Noble Street College Prep charter school and the amazing results its teachers and leaders are delivering for students and parents of Chicago.  It also exposes the entrenched educational establishment bent on stifling school choice options and preserving its monopoly on state education dollars.

Being released during National School Choice Week, the film runs approximately 35 minutes and is geared towards generating discussion about the role of our schools and what obstacles can be overcome when school culture is focused on student success rather than adult demands.

DVDs of the film will be available exclusively at http://www.schoolchoiceweek.com/event_centerpieces.

An internet-only abridged version can be seen here at twomissionsmovie.com.

Juan’s voice cuts through the daily back-and-forth and issues a searing indictment of a system that is largely focused on the needs of adults.

It is our hope that this will provide the public with an unvarnished analysis of the state of our schools, as well as a glimpse into what could be, if the teachers unions would drop their consistent opposition to reform.

Thanks Big Labor!

Now New York administrators are trying to deep-six a program created a few years ago in the collective bargaining agreement with the United Federation of Teachers: the Absent Teacher Reserve.

What’s this?  A creation of bureaucrats, politicians and labor bosses, the ATR is comprised of teachers who literally have no classroom for one reason or another. Due to a labor contract stipulation, they can’t be fired or laid off, and continue to draw the same salaries as full-time teachers. They’re put into the ATR pool, where they may be assigned to work as substitutes, clerks, or perhaps to do nothing at all.

They’re clearly not needed, and collectively they make a great deal of money. How’s that for management of taxpayer dollars?

Joel Klein, the former chancellor of New York City schools, estimated the elimination of this program would save the city an incredible $100 million a year.

According to DNAinfo.com:

“Until recently, the city allowed ATR teachers to remain at a posting for a full school term, during which the school principal could decide whether to hire them. That changed with the weekly reassignments, which went into effect in October as part of a deal with the United Federation of Teachers to avert layoffs.

“The department says this is a fairer and more efficient way for the castoffs to find new jobs. The regular reshuffling gives them more opportunities to impress more potential bosses, officials say.”

This – once again – raises the all-important question: are schools designed to meet the developmental needs of children or the employment needs of adults?  These folks did not make the cut the first time around, for one reason or another. Yet the union insists on wasting precious resources on them, and shuffling them out for repeated auditions for jobs they are probably not qualified for.  Shouldn’t we be putting the best and brightest in front of our students?  Oh, silly me.  This is the public sector.

Is there any business in the private sector that operates like this?  The car companies used to have the Job Bank – a similar program for “displaced” workers – but that was done away with because it cost millions and was highly ineffective.

The ATR is no different.  We can’t expect school tax dollars to be put to the best possible use when politicians lack the intestinal fortitude to do away with ridiculous, ineffective programs like this.