Far-left social justice teachers never miss an opportunity to push their agenda in the classroom.

As you’ll see in my upcoming book, “Indoctrination: How ‘Useful Idiots’ Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism,” leftist teachers use moments like the #OccupyWallStreet protests around the country to push their agenda of shifting America leftward away from a free market system.

One such teacher, Bob Peterson, who moonlights as the president of the Milwaukee teachers union, fawned all over a music video produced with footage from the various protests.  He called it “a great video rich with teaching possibilities.”

In one part, the camera is panning across pictures of Bush administration officials, to these lyrics:

War mongers only make the war longer

More sons and daughters sent on tour for slaughter

Pure mongers no conscience – killin’ machines

Ten years later and we’re still on the scene

Bush passed the hot grenade – now Obama gotta save the day

Before we waste away it’s safe to say

We need to make a change – celebrate the slain

Maybe take the blame and tear down the main frame

It’s called “Occupy Stand Up” by the Royal Kush Band and can be seen here on YouTube.

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Bill Ayers – the one-time domestic terrorist and leader of the Weather Underground, the self-proclaimed author of Barack Obama’s “Dreams of My Father,” the university professor now living on a government-provided pension – wowed the #OccupyChicago crowd last week.

He reminisced about meeting with the Vietnamese and being told he should convince his (Republican) parents to join an American revolution in the 1960s.  He urged his listeners to talk to their parents.

He coached the Occupiers on their message and themes.  Don’t worry, Bill Ayers – the elder statesman of radical leftist revolutionaries – will take them under his wing and ensure they are successful.

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Unsurprisingly, one of the few interest groups advocating for the “American Jobs Act” is the American Federation of Teachers. Despite claims that “the money is not for us as teachers,” everyone knows that’s a farce. Nobody suggests teachers shouldn’t be paid, but they shouldn’t patronize taxpayers by suggesting that increased spending on government schools isn’t for the teachers.

The unions and Obama administration have been running the full-court press to gin up enough pressure on Congress to act on the bill. Despite the speeches, advertising campaigns and photo ops, they can’t even get enough Democrats in the Senate to kick it out of that chamber.

Joe Biden has been carrying the water for the administration. In a recent conference call with union leaders, he claimed students in a Baltimore school are “dodging falling ceiling tiles” during their school day.

More recently, AFT President Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten visited a Yonkers school and decried the conditions those students are in. A photo published by the union shows students sitting in a basement with paint peeling off the walls and a large air conditioning system looms directly over head.

“We can hear the rats when they run” through the ventilation system, the union quoted a student as saying.

Across the country, unionists infer that the money for public education has simply vanished. It’s absurd. The reality is America is continuing to spend more per student on education than at any other time in history. So where is it all going? Are the rats carrying bags of money away?

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While Marxists spout equality and equal worth, they are not above claiming ownership of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Turns out some are more equal than others.

LaborNotes reports:

“Unions and other sympathetic groups called out their members to defend the [Wall Street] occupation—rallying to a phenomenon that’s put wage cuts, layoffs, and foreclosures squarely in the national debate. …

“Red-shirted Communications Workers—many of them recently on strike against Verizon—graduate student members of the United Auto Workers, building services workers in their SEIU Local 32BJ purple T-shirts, and Transport Workers Local 100 members were among the unionists visible in the crowd.

“The victory came ‘because of our unity and strength,’ said James Taylor of 32BJ. He also thought [New York City Mayor] Bloomberg had made a political calculation: ‘Especially with the unions out here, they can’t claim it’s just a bunch of college kids.’”

Unions of every stripe have embraced the #Occupy movement with full-throated chants and jeers.  According to LaborNotes, unions deserve the credit.

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The Occupy Wall Street mobs are getting plenty of attention from the media. The microphones are on.  The cameras are rolling.  The reporters are standing by, eager to get the mob’s message out.

But as is being chronicled all over the country, the radicals are the ones grabbing the limelight.

KTLA 5 recently did a news story about how #OccupyLA has now spread to the school district. Leftists have now claimed residency at #OccupyLAUSD.  Progressive activists have ruled those schools for years, but at least now they are being open about it.

The KTLA 5 story included comments from two far left LAUSD teachers: Sarah Knopp and Ron Gochez. Both are well known radicals.

In an EAGtv video from earlier this year, Knopp, along with a representative of the International Socialist Organization, discussed ways in which she pushes Marxism in the classroom.

Ron Gochez, a self-described Marxist, ranted in a different video about “global struggle against imperialism and capitalism.” He described Los Angeles as “stolen, occupied Mexico.”

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Leftists love to get arrested at protests. It must make them feel like adults and compensates for their otherwise very childish behavior.

But new video released exclusively by EAGtv shows the protestors pre-arrange who is to be arrested. That’s right – the arrests are as scripted as a professional wrestling match, at least on the occupiers’ end.

Cameras were rolling in Chicago recently and captured Chicago Teachers Union organizers finalizing plans for who in the crowd would be arrested. That’s right – it was staged.

Comparing lists on clipboards, the footage shows two union organizers in CTU shirts questioning whether a man standing with them would be arrested or not.

Organizer 1: “He said he’s not being arrested. He’s not on the list.”

The intent is clear: Overwhelm the system. Occupy the police. Provoke confrontation. Produce beautiful footage for naïve local TV rubes reporters. Clog the courts. Gain sympathy from citizens.

But it’s all just a game. And the media is continuing to fall for the ruse.

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The Occupy Oakland movement officially kicked off on Monday, October 10 at 4 pm. In a bold act of solidarity, the Oakland Education Association provided the occupiers with four Porta-Potty units, but that wasn’t enough for a movement as large as this one.

An email obtained by Education Action Group from an Occupy Oakland leader explains the problem:

“If you didn’t already know, OEA has pulled through and donated some funds to have porta-potties available at Occupy Oakland. … People are really grateful to see how the teachers are supporting this. However, less than a day later, the potties are already full! They cost $35 a unit to service, and there are four units. We need to gather some funds to either add more units, or to make a consistent servicing schedule throughout the occupation. … Please email me if you are able to help with monetary donations!”

In a short amount of time, the occupiers have issued an impressive amount of communiqué, of which the Porta-Potty SOS email was only a part.

A sign at #OccupyOakland summarizes the movement's intent.

The mob has issued a manifesto/blog, which contains this message for “the politicians and the 1%”:

“Since we don’t need permission to claim what is already ours, we do not have a list of demands to give you. There is no specific thing you can do to make us ‘go away.’ And the last thing we want is for you to reinforce your power. … Our goal is to bring power back to where it belongs, with the people so we can fix what the politicians and corporations have screwed up.”

However, the Oakland mob provides an extensive “wish list” of supplies to their “comrades” in the 99%. Here’s a sampling of the occupier’s demands –er, needs, and in their own words:

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The Columbus Day protests in Chicago had anarchists, socialists, communists…and a Marching Band! Chicago’s public Morgan Park High School turned out its marching band to entertain and rally the #OccupyChicago protesters.

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When the leftist educator Bob Peterson, president of the Milwaukee teachers union, addressed his “comrades” at the Save our Schools conference in July, he couldn’t contain his emotions.  He openly shed tears over the fact that Madison teachers walked away from their jobs during the February protests, leaving their students behind.  According to footage obtained exclusively by EAGtv.com, Peterson told attendees:

“When things came down in Wisconsin – the Madison teachers…I’m getting emotional…the Madison teachers (Bob drinks water)…went out four days straight.  It’s illegal to strike in Wisconsin.  It’s illegal to strike.  It wasn’t a strike.  They called in absent.  They exercised their political – their right to free speech.  They weren’t striking against their employer.  They were striking, really, against state power.  They inspired the rest of us.  The school I’m at – the first day, 87% of us teachers at Fratney [Elementary School] called in sick and went to Madison.  We couldn’t shut down.  We had a phone bank at Rethinking Schools the previous night trying to call enough teachers in Milwaukee to close down, we didn’t succeed.  Our principal, though, said ‘go to it.  If I have to have 400 kids in the gym, I’ll take care of it for you.’” (applause)

Peterson told his audience that a school administrator participated in a union plot to abuse sick leave policies and close schools.  I stand corrected in my belief that the teachers unions were the only ones ignoring student needs while looking out for the selfish interests of adult employees.  Fratney Principal Rita Tenorio is allegedly guilty, too.

Peterson told the audience that power comes from money and people.  “We don’t have as much money as our enemies, so we have to organize ourselves.”

“We also have to name the enemy.  We have to name it accurately.  In Wisconsin, for instance, there’s a whole section of the ruling class – say, the GE company, the GE foundation – that doesn’t like Walker.  They only support public schools.”

It’s virtually impossible to verify that statement. And who in their right mind thinks in terms of the “ruling class?” Only Marxists think like that.

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The Michigan Education Association announced this week that a public poll it funded reveals that Michigan residents agree with the union’s take on pending education reforms.

The EPIC/MRA survey results also show that respondents don’t think too much of Gov. Rick Snyder, state Republican lawmakers or their education agenda.

The MEA must think Michiganders are either really stupid or really gullible. Perhaps worse, the media fell for the ruse.

Michigan media fell for the poll equivalent of a whoopie cushion

Consider the lead in to a question posed to those surveyed by the union earlier this month:

“Opponents of legislation to allow local public school districts to outsource teaching services say teachers hired by private companies will not have the experience of those who work for local public school districts, nor the commitment or loyalty to the district or students. Also, they will probably be paid much less and have inferior health insurance and other benefits. That will only force longtime teachers to leave the profession or seek employment elsewhere, with private companies keeping the leftover profits. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose legislation to allow local public school districts to outsource instructional teaching services? [IF FAVOR/OPPOSE, ASK] Would that be strongly or somewhat?”

It’s no wonder the majority answered in opposition. Public opinion surveys with such leading questions are known as push-polls, and are designed to solicit specific responses. College freshman learn that in Political Science 101.

What baffles us is why any self-respecting journalist would buy into this ridiculously tainted survey. Unfortunately, several did.

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Virtually no state is immune to the red ink found in school budgets, which is a result of routine overspending.  For too long, schools have not kept spending in check.  They’ve given raises they couldn’t afford, they maintained bloated benefit packages that far exceeded their private-sector counterparts, and they haven’t employed much business sense in managing massive, multi-million dollar operations.

Unions, of course, have felt the greatest heat.  They, along with complicit school boards and administrators, were so reckless with school finances, that a course correction was inevitable. The nation’s economy has been slipping for the past several years, forcing school districts everywhere to reacquaint themselves with reality.

Meanwhile, the unions believe they have a restraining order against reality, and have taken to what they do best: protesting.

Back in March, the American Federation of Teachers took to Alabama streets to protest the fact that the legislature there is failing to quench the union’s insatiable thirst for unchecked spending.  The Birmingham News reported at the time:

“About 80 people rallied in front of the Jefferson County Board of Education during rush hour this afternoon to protest state budget cuts in education, which they say is increasing class sizes, drying up school supply money and killing teacher morale in just about every school district.

“The American Federation of Teachers led the rally, accompanied by parents, other labor unions, the NAACP and a few students.”

“The fact is there are some schools that won’t even be able to open their doors this fall,” said Vi Parramore, president of the Jefferson County AFT.

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The National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, is rolling out its new $350,000 television ad campaign to generate support for President Obama’s American Jobs Act. Thirty billion of Obama’s $450 billion jobs bill has been designated to supposedly save 285,000 teaching jobs.

According to our estimates, the bill would generate $35.4 million in dues revenue for the NEA. In other words, the teachers union is spending $350,000 in hopes of getting over $35 million in “saved” dues payments – a return 100 times greater than the initial investment. These union geniuses belong on Wall Street.

Our estimates also show that the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers union, would see $13 million in “saved” dues payments.

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Public employee unions and their apologists will tell any tale to elicit sympathy for their cause.

A good example is the Rev. Al Sharpton, who now remarkably hosts a nightly show on MSNBC. He recently used a portion of his program to claim that state education cuts forced one Wisconsin school district to eliminate milk from morning snacks for elementary students.

“Governor Scott Walker’s budget cuts mean some kids go without,” Sharpton said, according to an article posted on PolitiFact Wisconsin.

Neither Sharpton nor his National Action Network responded to calls from fact-checkers who were seeking evidence to back up the claim. That’s not surprising.

As it turned out, Sharpton should have checked his sources.

According to the Baraboo district superintendent and the school board president and vice president, milk was eliminated from the morning snack because officials were concerned that kids were drinking too much of it in the morning. They had been getting a half-pint carton during breakfast, the morning break and lunch. That seems like a lot of dairy product for small children, even in Wisconsin.

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Vladimir Lenin is popularly attributed with coining the term “useful idiots” – a description of Americans who were in effect doing the bidding of the communist Soviet Union – and subverting American exceptionalism – in the name of global humanity.

Lenin “has left the building,” but his leftist agenda lives on among progressives who are obsessed with trying to subvert our free market economy.  And it’s those progressives who control the nation’s teachers unions and the rest of the education blob which manipulates a naïve and sympathetic public to do their dirty work.

Many parents have come to believe that the red ink in public school budgets has been caused by politicians who have scaled back the increases in public education spending.  Parents have been duped into thinking that it’s the “evil” and miserly politicians who are to blame for government schools going broke.  Parents don’t want to confront the fact that it’s the pensions, benefits, and other perks for the adult school employees that have brought the system to the financial brink.  Worse, parents have fallen prey to the notion that spending must be increased or little Johnny’s art teacher will have taught his last finger painting lesson.

The teacher unions are fighting for their very survival, and have taken to creating a sense of panic among parents, in hopes the public will push the unions’ agenda.  As a result, some parents become desperate to do something – anything – to fix the problem.

That desperation seems to have motivated a group of California parents to create a music video that features a group of elementary children singing the following words:

“It’s my school, your school

Gotta get dough for our schools

This money won’t raise itself

But we can

“Unity! Community!

Funds, funds, funds, funds!

Looking forward to the next year

“No more music, PE, drama,

Spanish and art class goin’ bye bye

Funds, Funds, thinkin’ about funds

You know what I mean …”

The video – which appears to have been filmed at a taxpayer-funded school – is as pathetic as it is absurd. At one point, the children take turns putting money in a donation box, only to have an actor portraying Uncle Sam take the money out of the box and stuff it inside his coat.

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When President Obama once again addresses public school students this week, he will likely hit all the poll-tested phrases (“The future of America depends on you”) and other warmed-over pablum (“There is no excuse for not trying”) which will leave the kids reaching for their contraband ear buds.

At the risk of being too cynical, the speech will only waste class time and provide unionized teachers with an opportunity to tell students why the National Education Association endorsed this great, transformative man.

That’s what I expect will happen when the president speaks to the nation’s youth on Wednesday. That being said, here’s the speech Obama should give to students.

“Good morning and thank you.  America is being tested as it has rarely been tested before.  We’re witnessing countries on the brink of default.  America’s debt has never been higher.  Washington is in gridlock – and denial – over the national security threat we face because of our insatiable thirst for spending.

“On top of that, our competitiveness is slipping globally.  We rank behind such countries as Iceland and Hungary when it comes to student achievement and that is unacceptable.  America shouldn’t be second in anything, let alone 24th or 25th.  We should demand better of ourselves and not accept anything less.

“Children are being left behind and spending more money won’t fix the problem.  We’ve been spending billions each year attempting to alleviate poverty, but recent statistics show poverty rates have never been higher.  Nearly one in four children is below the poverty line.

“Education – that is, preparing students for life – is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.  Government can’t do it.  Only personal responsibility, hard work and the generosity of our fellow Americans will.

“We also know government schools are not meeting the needs of every student.  Kids are falling through the cracks. That is why we as politicians must put the interests of children and parents first.  To that end, I am calling on leaders at every level and of every political stripe to embrace parental choice.

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As President Obama makes his way around the country to gin up support for his latest stimulus efforts, his underlings can’t seem to stay on the same page.

The two national teachers’ unions – the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers – recently hosted a closed-media conference call with Vice President Biden to rally support for Obama’s “American Jobs Act.”

source: nea.org

According to a recording first revealed at PublicSchoolSpending.com, Biden told the audience:

“Nobody is saying this [plan] isn’t positive for the economy.  We’re ready to compromise with the Republicans.  But only compromise on things if they have a better way. …”

But less than 24 hours later, Campaign Manager David Axelrod appeared on Good Morning America and told host George Stephanopolous that “the package works together.”

“So it’s all or nothing,” Stephanopolous stated, attempting to pin Axelrod down.  Not answering the question (shock!), Axelrod responded, “We want them to act now on this package.  We’re not in a negotiation to break up the package – it’s not an ala carte menu.”

In other words, no, they’re not willing to compromise.  Take it or leave it, America.

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Ridiculously false choices and rhetoric ruled the evening when the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers hosted a closed-media conference call with Vice President Joe Biden to inform their members about the latest government school and teachers’ union bailout.

In a recording obtained exclusively by PublicSchoolSpending.com, Biden explained the administration is seeking to spend $30 billion to create a “Teacher Layoff Prevention Fund.”  He also said that many schools today are “deciding whether or not to heat the school or keep a teacher.”

Like school stimuli-past, Biden said schools would not be able to bank the money, but would be required to spend it.  “It’s to be able to keep you at work and even rehire teachers,” he told the unions.  So the Obama administration – yet again – is setting up a situation where the problem will be the same next year and the administration will have to propose another bailout or the school sky will fall in and even more kids will graduate unable to read.

Obama’s proposal includes $10 billion for the 100 “largest, high need public school districts” to use for renovations.  So just prior to the election, the administration is proposing to spend $100 million in communities that traditionally vote for Democrats.  Coincidence?

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When the White House released its latest plan to stimulate – er, improve – the economy, everybody knew there would be a fresh round of spending to bail out government schools.

But there’s another motive too: dues for the teachers unions.

By my estimates, about three quarters of unionized teachers are represented by the National Education Association.  Every member pays dues, including $166 per year that goes to the national union, according to a secret union document posted on PublicSchoolSpending.com.  The White House says up to 285,000 teaching jobs – that is, dues payers – could be saved.

Given these facts, the NEA would be looking at about $35.4 million in “saved” dues.

Similarly, the American Federation of Teachers, which has annual dues of $184.20, according to financial statements found at AFTexposed.com, would have about 71,250 jobs saved.  The dues ramifications?  A little over $13 million.

It pays to have friends in high places.

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First there was the stimulus.  The $787 billion monstrosity was critical to Big Labor because it would save public school teaching jobs, among other unionized positions.

In fact, upon its passage, the News Journal reported on Joe Biden’s appearance before the Delaware teachers’ union:  Citing about $105 billion that is coming to the U.S. Department of Education from the federal stimulus package, Biden said teachers will finally have the means to improve education.

“We’ve been given all the ammunition.  If we shoot and miss, if we squander the opportunity, tell me how long you think it’s going to take for another American president to go and ask for more dollars to correct the education system.”

“You’ve got a president and vice president absolutely committed to having all the tools you need to finally get it right in American public education.”

Then there was the “public education bailout.”  The White House told us the $23 billion bill – mere peanuts by comparison – would stave off a public school employee calamity.

Is there any proof that any of the money spent so far has done anything for student achievement?  I mean, even raised it one single, solitary point on a standardized test?

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The Left’s working motto consistently turns out to be “do as I say, not as I do.”  How else could they possibly make bold pronouncements to the media but live the exact opposite?

The day before his declaration of war on the Tea Party movement, Teamsters President James Hoffa appeared on CNN and deemed American companies as “unpatriotic,” according to the Political Ticker.

“I think the president should challenge the patriotism of these American corporations that are sitting on the sidelines,” Hoffa said. “The problem in America isn’t that we don’t have enough money. We’ve got more money than any other country in the world. The problem is American businesses not spending it and not getting it in the game.”

Is Hoffa willing to have his own patriotism challenged?  Because some inconvenient truths emerge from the financial report his Teamsters union filed with the federal government.

According to an LM-2 report filed earlier this year, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents truck drivers and some school employees, ended 2010 with $108,608,477 in the bank.  That’s a whopping 24.9% increase in net assets over 2009, when the union reported $86,942,076 in assets.

In contrast, the Teamsters reported $88,371,439 in liabilities.  So if the union could afford to go without any new revenue and still meet its obligations for well over 12 months.

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