Bad News Teachers’ Unions: Every Parent IS An Education Expert
by Kyle OlsonAmerican Federation of Teachers’ president Randi Weingarten’s new line is, “suddenly, everyone’s an education expert.”
She first trotted this phrase out in response to a positive review of the upcoming documentary film, “Waiting for Superman,” posted on the liberal Huffington Post. Produced by the director of Al Gore’s, “An Inconvenient Truth,” the new movie and the education reform movement has now breached the teachers unions’ Bastille: the American Left.
Weingarten’s objective seems to be to dismiss anyone outside of the Education Blob as little more than a naysayer who obviously doesn’t know what they’re talking about. She’s attempting to insulate herself and the education system from increasing criticism over spending habits and flatlining results.
From Weingarten’s recent AFT convention speech:
And I never thought that I’d see a documentary film about helping disadvantaged children in which the villain wasn’t crumbling schools, or grinding poverty, or the lack of a curriculum, or overcrowded classrooms, or the total failure of No Child Left Behind.
No, the villain was us.
Look, I can take it. It’s part of my job.
But taking abuse shouldn’t be in the job description of more than 3 million public school teachers who work hard every day to do right by their students.
She also dismissed the critics of the bloated system:
And I remain hopeful. Hopeful that we can overcome the formidable obstacles before us: an economy that has battered families and state budgets, an energized and concerted movement to tear down public service and public institutions, and a growing pundit class that has engaged in the browbeating of unionized teachers and public schools in other words, affixing blame rather than fixing schools.
So to the Queen of Gall, I say this: yes, everyone IS an education expert.
WE know what is best for our children. You do not. And until we no longer have to foot the bill for your pay and outrageous budget-busting benefits, we will continue to speak up.
If your union can figure out a way to pay for the system yourselves, then we’ll let you run the show and gladly seek school alternatives. Until then, taxpayers WILL have the final say – and what are you going to do about it? Have another protest? Brandish your brass knuckles?
Your organization, Randi, despite billing yourselves as “a union of professionals,” chooses to be associated with the AFL-CIO and in solidarity with the UAW. So allow me to put it in terms that I’m sure you’ll understand. The guy working on the line doesn’t have the expertise to run a Fortune 100 company. He knows how to play his role. Teachers may think they know what’s best for the classroom, but when your members, Randi, hold up Detroit, Chicago, Washington, D.C., or any of your other districts as examples of “union teachers know best,” let’s just say it makes me a wee bit skeptical of leaning on you for policy-making advice.
But the consumer, who you, Randi, would prefer to exclude from influencing the system via parental choice, knows if the end product is a lemon. Most consumers read reports on which car is the most reliable, has the highest resale value, and other factors that mean quality. So do consumers of the education system.
We know. And that’s why, Randi Weingarten, we can see your gall is showing.
You see, Randi, the huge taxes that I, and many other hard-working Americans, pay has purchased our ability to criticize the blackhole that is the American public education system. And the fact that you want to limit my options as a parent, force our children into a failing system and keep my mouth shut as that system inches ever closer to financial collapse has, in fact, turned me into an education expert. Live with it, Randi, because there are a whole lot of us I think you’d rather not rile up.
As Bob Dylan once said, “you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Similarly, you don’t need to be an academic to know the current system isn’t working.
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103 Comments
Well said. Only those who are unsure of the quality of their product fear competition.
Study after study has shown that the most important factor in the successful education of a child is parent involvement; Not degrees, licenses, certifications, or pomposity, but parents who know their children and actively work on their learning environment.
There is no logical reason for taxpayer funded jobs to be unionized. It should be illegal.
Who else but parents should be responsible for keeping an eye on the kids, the teachers, the curriculum, the school and the district? The parent better be the "expert". Without it, who knows what liberal mined schools would come up with….. maybe try teaching our kindergartners about sex.
They just need more money, and they’ll get it straight, hahahahaha…right!
I concur. It is the unionizing of government jobs and the security it brings which leads to complacency that has downgraded governments ability to be effective.
Uh… Randi Weingarten is an Alinsky-ite, socialist party member, and WFP party member. And if you hadn't guessed, a big time gay activist whose partner is also a big time marxist "activist" with terrible things to say about anything traditional on her website. Old school, Weather Underground types.
She refers to the usual excuses such as poverty. But maybe the kids wouldn't drop out and be poor if they had better teachers? It's not the schools, it's the teachers. Democrats have had a monopoly on education in this country for years and years. Their fault.
Here's a stat teachers don't want to discuss — but don't mind bashing Catholics over the head with — there is a 2000% higher incidence of sexual molestations of students by school teachers than there are by priests. BTW, anybody seen our safe school Czar lately?
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Outlaw ALL public employee unions, end the Davis-Bacon Act and tighten and severely restrict the rules on union elections.
Avoid the union label and hit 'em where it hurts, boycott their products everywhere you can and go after the public employee unions hard in your local school board meetings…
Their time has passed.
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why not blame the teachers and the unions if they're to blame? Obama does not hesitate to scapegoat anything in civil society that moves, except anything with a union label.
Randi Weingarten is a big time, old school Weather Underground type and gay activist. She should focus on the 2500 molestations of students by teachers that occur every year. Anybody seen the safe school Czar lately?
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Why not blame the teachers and the unions if they're to blame? Obama does not hesitate to scapegoat anything in civil society that moves, except anything with a union label.
Randi Weingarten is a big time, old school Weather Underground type and gay activist. She should focus on the 2500 mo1estations of students by teachers that occur every year. Anybody seen the safe school Czar lately?
.
if teachers were as smart as they claim, students wouldn't be failing all the tests, and quitting school. my property taxes are out of control, mostly due to the school district here. we are having to do with less, but the whining class, public sector unions, believe they deserve, no demand pay raises, even though we have students who cannot read or write. fire them all, lets disband this government monopoly.
I tried to post won't let me. What's up?
One of the most simple and powerful statements I've read here. Bravo….
That's what unions do, they enable lousy workers to be lousy with no consequences. I'll bet that if every school fired their 3 worst teachers the rest would all of a sudden start doing their jobs better.
What an arrogant BITCH!!!!! If she thinks that she or anyone has the right to usurp the teaching of my child, she has another thing coming. The best she will ever be is a suppliment to my wife and myself. She is the exact reason that we need to abolish her position and put ALL of the members of her union back under the control of We the People! She also, by her attitude, showcases the reason that ANYTHING that can be considered"public" as in "government" need to be cut back to the point that they realise once again that it is us that they work for. And by our good graces continue to be employed.
Study after study shows that teacher quality is the most important factor in in the education of child. Parents are certainly a part of a child's education, but certainly not the "most important". There are plenty of examples of kids who excel in school without parent involvement, as well as, students who fail with maximum parent involvement. Teachers are professionals and should be treated as such!!
Intense Debate is a third party software platform, it has glitches quite often but ever since the Sherrod story broke it has gotten worse.
I'm thinking somebody may have dropped a virus into the ID servers the way its acting…
Similarly, you don’t need to be an academic to know the current system isn’t working.
However, you do have to be a mindless* liberal to believe that Weingarten is even remotely interested in improving education in America.
*maybe one day I'll meet a liberal who isn't mindless
While I agree that parents should be the expert of their own children, I disagree that unions are the problem with the educational system. There are several other issues such as 1) student accountability. There are schools with policies that students cannot get a zero for cheating. There are schools with policies that the lowest grade a student can get is 59%. There are schools that will let a student pass the class when they only show up for class once a week (miss 4 out of 5 days of class). 2) Parent expectations. Many parents will ignore the teachers comments. Phone calls to parents about student's behavior issues are ignored. Parents do not log onto the schoool's website to see their student's grades. Parents don't want to be inconvenienced with their child's behavior. 3) Government involvment. Teachers are in the trenches and are totally ignored when it comes to educational policy.
So when people say that unions is the major cause of the educational problems, remember there are lots of core issues that have nothing to do with unions.
"…and a growing pundit class that has engaged in the browbeating of unionized teachers and public schools in other words, affixing blame rather than fixing schools."
Unfortunately, to fix the schools, we "pundits" must affix blame. Because the schools can't even start being fixed until the bad teachers are gone. The unions have our hands tied, we can't just fire bad teachers, so we can't even begin to fix the schools. It's a vicious circle, and yes, we blame the unions. Throwing more money at schools has proven to be an epic fail- if you are a student. If you are a teacher, you've been getting raises and better benefits with every additional handful of money thrown at the "problem".
I have no problem with a GREAT teacher earning a very good salary with good benefits. I do have a problem with crappy teachers getting the same. Teachers unions need to be outlawed, disbanded- whatever. Teachers need to be hired, and possibly fired, on their own merits. Want a raise? Want to keep your job? Prove you deserve it. How many of your students pass/fail?
Or distributing condoms to kindergartners. Schools should not be teaching values. That's MY job as a parent.
Vouchers are the answer. Give me the funds school district gets per child and I can run a good system. Vouchers would desegregate schools, as parents would either send their kids to better performing public schools or to private schools in the area. Underperforming schools would be forced to close.
I know for a fact that teacher quality is important because I had an overwhelming number of BAD teachers at the public schools I attended; however, it was my parents who counteracted the black hole that sometimes was my undergraduate education by teaching me at home–in the evenings and on weekends–and counteracting the sometimes blatant DISinformation (or no information at all) that I was taught by my teachers.
Even when the writting is on the wall the villians can't see it or refuse to be accountable. Unions are a scourge
and are only in place to reward failure or to forward an agenda that is quite opposite of what the American people want and need. Unions service only themselves at our expense.
"Pride cometh befor the fall" In NJ, Govenor Christie took on the sacrosanct teachers union, he went to the voters over the Democrat controlled legislation, he won! Any idea as to what the union in NJ were upset over? They objected to contributing 1.5% toward their healthcare benefits. When the public found out that the teachers union which not only covered the teachers bust all educational employees from the cafateria to the janitor were getting totally free health care, they sided with the Govenor. All unions exist for one reason only………..gain power, maintain the power.
The unions are a major problem due to the inability to get rid of failing teachers. But make no mistake here, the involvement of the federal government is the true culprit behind our failing education system. Students are trained to do well on the federal tests so that the school district can receive additional funding. I've been watching my kids curricula for the last 10 years. And increased emphasis on teaching just what's necessary to do well on the no child left behind tests and not on a well rounded education for my kids is the focus of our school district. All that and Omaha has some of the best public schools in the nation!
The current relationship between the U.S. Department Of Education and public school districts is akin to a drug dealer and an addict. The school district does whatever is necessary to score the next fix of government funds instead of doing their job providing a good education to it's students.
Several years ago, there was an article that said poor performing schools rose to be a top performing school simply by keeping all the teachers and replacing all poor performing administrative staff (superintendents, principals, etc.) Maybe we should look more to replacing the federal/state/school administrators instead of focusing just on the unions.
I doubt any person complaining about school performance could handle being a teacher for a year with the crap they have to put up with from students, administrators, and parents. It is no wonder that 15% of teachers leave after the first year and 50% of teachers leave within five years.
Now there's a picture of one angry woman. “A union of professionals” she calls it? A man can call himself a short term relationship consultant, but he's still a pimp.
A-hem. Some teachers are professionals. I can show you a whole bunch here in California who are not. And that's the reason all four of my kids went to private school. I'm not a rich woman. It cost me dearly to send my kids to private school. But it was well worth it.
Parents do have to take some responsibility here. Even in private schools, parents are becoming increasingly unwilling to take responsibility for their children's behavior. Until we return discipline to the classroom, you can expect more failing students.
Anybody that gets endorsed by Bertha Lewis, you know they are corrupt and manipulating the system for their own benefit and carrying out the communist agenda to pervert our children into mindless zombies.
Thats why homeschooling or private schools are the option if you can manage it.
I had an excellent public school education that was both well rounded and lacking in most liberal overtones. I know I wouldn't receive that now nor would my nephew or other school aged children in my family. I also had the advantage of complete parent envolvement in my education as well. My parents checked my homework, read the same books as I was assigned and looked over my textbooks. They didn't send me off to school thinking their job was done. For that I am thankful. I'll seek to do the same for my own family as will plenty of others out there. Parents are the first and last line of defense education not the teachers. Teachers suppliment education.
Amen! Can you imagine the Democratic party without the financial and ground support of the public unions? This should be job 1 if we can muster the Political power.
Americans did this to ourselves when we allowed (actually clamored for) public education — government education! Just doing away with teacher unions is not enough. Government run education must end! That's the only way to save our children and our country. As long as our children continue to go to these brainwashing factories for their reassignments as leftist drones, we will have no hope of being a free and capitalist society.
Right. Taxpayer funded jobs do not need to be Unionized. The Unions are now the precursers of Socialism.
They live at the White House with Team Obama. That should be the first alert. They are into wanting Illegals to get Amnesty ObamaCare! Everwhere they go they create Oppression/Socialism/Communism.
Unions were born out of the need for workers to be protected from Employer's abuse. We have laws now for that.
Therefore Unions and people like Randy are obsolete and destructive to the fabric of America, and should be shut down.
Well, how are the education "experts" doing then? It seems they aren't doing so great to me.
But what do I know? I'm not an expert.
i don't buy it in whole. private schools do know how to take care of business. they can, and do throw kids out who cannot control themself. teachers blame everybody but themself for the failures. they changed the rules on behavior. they just want thier money, bene's, and tenure. they wanted smaller classes, they got that, they still don't learn. they wanted special education, they got that, they still don't learn. next they will want a lexus, or mercedes. they want teach gay acceptance, sex ed, euro white bashing, but not reading, writing and math.
Dam America wake up !!!! If only you were taught to read in school….
"you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" = Ayers + Dohrn + Jones and the famous quote from Lin Paio …. Do some research people !!!!!
"U.S. imperialism relies solely on its nuclear weapons to intimidate people. But these weapons cannot save U.S. imperialism from its doom. Nuclear weapons cannot be used lightly .. . . ."
Hmmm .. wonder why were telling the world what we have ??? How come the media cannot follow who Obama has assoicateed his WHOLE life with ??? Look at these people and tell me where we are wrong?
Read "You Don't Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows" and then about Lin..
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1965-war-maois...
True professionals do NOT need a union.
There's no government monopoly on education. Many many private institutions exist for those able to afford it. The reason the government SHOULD be involved in education is that many cannot afford private educations and unless there is something to fill that gap, we as a country suffer the ill-effects of an under-educated populace.
What if there was a parents' union?
Unions also keep unscrupulous business owners from abusing their workers. There's bad on both sides, but I'm not sure getting rid of unions serves anyones interests better than requiring unions in every industry.
Maybe one day you'll take off the blinders then.
So if we get rid of public schools, who educates that student base? Is it paid out-of-pocket by parents? If so I can't imagine how NOT educating a large swath of lower income children is in the long-term interests of this country.
Damn skippy!
Unions used to do that. Now we have a bazillion lawyers to sue unscrupulous business owners. Unions have outlived their usefulness and have morphed into something that hurts our country on many levels.
They need to go.
well, there is a government monopoly, i pay property taxes to fund schools, if i do not fund the schools, they take my house. if i have children and want to send them to a private school, i must pay for the lazy union teachers, and then send a second check to pay for private school. also, to proove you wrong, prior to public school, how on earth did anybody learn to read? how did the pyramids get built without union teachers, how did the taj majal ever get built without union teachers. how did gutenburg ever make the printing press, and print the bible without union teachers?
Good point, it doesn't take an expert to see that the experts are failing. And it takes a pretty big sucker to think that the failing experts would do better only if they had more money….How many times, as an owner of a small business, I have had an employee tell me they would do better if they were paid more. Never a good way to get a raise.
This is an example of why home schooling and charter schools are better than public education. To them, it is all about the indoctrination. Get involved in your school boards. It starts at this level. Hopefully we will not be subsidizing the teachers unions much longer. They cannot stand competition or a complete education without all of their politics interjected. I am teaching my grandchildren about the errors in their textbooks and taking history and politics to a whole new level. The now know how EVIL FDR was, not the great president that the school systems would have you believe. They can see for themselves the same practices in this Administration which should make this president one of the 3 worst in our history.
"there is a government monopoly"
You fail to grasp the meaning of monopoly.
"prior to public school, how on earth did anybody learn to read?"
Primarily through home schooling, which IF your parents were literate would work for you. Otherwise you probably spent your life illiterate as well.
"how did the pyramids get built without union teachers"
Um, slave labor… You wanna do more research before running off the cliff next time?
"If your union can figure out a way to pay for the system yourselves, then we’ll let you run the show and gladly seek school alternatives. Until then, taxpayers WILL have the final say – and what are you going to do about it? Have another protest? Brandish your brass knuckles?"
Best statement evar. In addition, public school system and most teachers equal FAIL. The taxpayers don't want to eat your crapola sandwich and take your Union down to the Potomac River without a paddle.
A PAGE FROM THE SOCIALISTS AND THREAD CRAPPERS PLAYBOOK
Deny, Deceive, Disrupt, Distract, Destroy…
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually
come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State
can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military
consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to
use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of
the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the
State."
–Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
And so goes America's educators propaganda-izing our youth, and;
NAACP, SPREADING HATE, DIVISION, AND RACISM
Sounds like there are lots of truths the liberal socialist don't want people knowing about.
I'm so sick and tired of people complaining about how "hard" teaching is. Like no other job in the world is hard. Try being a social worker like my wife. Try dodging bullets in a foreign country. You get summers off and absurd benefits. Stop complaining.
So public education has really done soooo much good for the poor in this country? Really? Every child in this country currently has to attend school until they are at least part of the way into high school. So even if they drop out at 16, they should still be able to read, write, do basic math, have some grasp of history and basic science, etc… But instead, many of the children you are so worried about not getting an education aren't getting one now! So what exactly would the difference be? A bunch of uneducated kids sitting in a prison, uh, I mean classroom 5 days a week vs. a bunch of uneducated kids not sitting in a classroom 5 days a week.
End public education, welfare, social security and all other govt services. Cut taxes down to a 10% flat tax to pay for police, military and courts. Once govt schools are gone, there will be a huge vacuum in the market to be filled by private schools of all kinds. The competition will be much greater and the prices lower because of it. Many families will be able to send their kids to private schools if they so wish. Or they can home school. Or they can team up with other families in their community to do a coop school (one of my personal faves). And anyone left who is still too poor to do any of the above can get scholarships or go to a school paid for by charity.
OR, who says everyone must go to school at all? How does school even prepare anyone for a real job? For some kids that don't want to go to school, why can't we have apprenticeships instead? If everything is voluntary, no one is being forced to do anything, so it's not like child labor. A kid and his parents would have to want to chose an apprenticeship over school or perhaps a tech school over a liberal arts school. This one size fits all, forced education stuff needs to end. And along with that, we put an end to the infantilization of our fellow Americans and teach accountability and self-reliance rather than how to suck from the government teat and be a mindless drone.
well, it is a monopoly, yes monopoly means only one, and even if home schooled, you still pay the union beast. check your reaserch, they now believe the workers who built the pyramids might not have been slaves, but were paid. and both of my parents were not born here, and did not recieve what is considered an education, but were able to learn english, and learn how to read on thier own. i guess i might not have jumped off a cliff. once again try not to pay the monopoly, see if you can keep your house. oh, i forgot to mention, i am a engineer, also a professional photograhper, also a computer programmer, i never went to school for any of those. but they did tell me what condoms are for when i went to school.
This comment also could have had any of the following titles:
A PAGE FROM THE FOX NEWS PLAYBOOK
A PAGE FROM ANY POLITICIANS PLAYBOOK
A PAGE FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCHS PLAYBOOK
Congrats on your parents being able to learn English on their own. I am hesitant to bank the future education of our country on their experience though. As far as the pyramids, if slogging rocks across a desert to build a tomb for a rich king is your idea of career opportunities, then maybe there's a reason we disagree on education.
Finally, I have to ask about your career as an engineer… How were you able to pass your state's licensing requirements without a Bachelor's Degree? It's required to practice as an Engineer in the United States. Photography and computer programming, sure if you're an autodidact it's possible to train yourself, if you already have a good base education in reading, writing and math…
Some need to go
The most pathetic unionists supporting and promoting the obvious communist agenda of this White House is the screen actors guild, their unrepentant bias toward totalitarianism is quite revealing. (see Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro)
The last thing I want to hear as an American citizen is ANY over paid actor telling me to give more and be more charitable while they hypocritically sit on their mountains of money.
Hollywood is built upon financial gullibility of the masses and if you are paying patronage to their mediocre works you are funding your own demise.
We MUST boycott SAG and Hollywood in general, cut them off at their greedy, bigoted self serving wealthy knees to help save human liberty!
BOYCOTT HOLLYWOOD AND SAVE THE WORLD!
Hear Hear!! Let the money follow the student. If the per student tax dollars were to follow the student to whichever school te parents choose, the quality of education would increase. Schools would have to ACTUALLY compete, based on performance, to recieve the money. That is precisely the reason public education has failed. It no longer has to compete for it's largesse.
Ms. Weingarten can say all she wants, but her words ring hollow. Our state spends thousands of dollars per student every year – - much, much more than private school tuition. WHY? Why do I have little urchins ringing my doorbell or standing outside Wal-Mart all the time begging for money for their team or their class to take a field trip? WHY can the teenager down at the local farmer's market NOT count back change, but her five-year-old brother knows what having intercourse means? Geeeeeeeze! Every year we hear teachers unions screaming – "Save the schools – - we need MORE money to FINALLY get it right!" – - and scumbag politicians capitulating to them in exchange for support. Yet, I know several public school teachers who routinely reach into their own pockets to buy things for their classrooms. Let it go, already! Dissolve the Department of Education! Privatize the schools! Really – - it WILL be okay!
well, i do not have a e.e. or a m.e. behind my name. but i clean up the mess left by real engineers. i do not have a single field, i combine all fields for manufacturing. and combine mechanical, with electrical, and structural. i do hire licensed engineers when required, but they work off my designs. but manufacturing is suffering right now, because of obama's poor policy toward profits. but you do not need a degree, or license if you are not advertising as an engineer, but to gain trust of customers, you need to deliver sound practices, not a piece of paper. i regularly run rings around "engineers" everyday.
What a filthy woman. They can brag that this education system graduates 50% of the students with an std.
.and a high percent that don't graduate.
I liked the camera. We need cameras in the classrooms like are being placed on school buses.
I'd love to try a job where I only work about 8 months out of the year, get a reasonable salary and incredible benefits and can retire at about 70% of my pay after 30 years! And, oh yeah, a job where after 3 – 5 years I can NEVER be fired except if I commit a heinous crime against a child. Unfortunately, I work in the PRIVATE sector! Teachers whine that they have to grade papers after school. Well, I have to work a lot of unpaid overtime and travel 70% of the time (away from my family) but since I'm an EXEMPT employee, I don't get paid extra. I will have to work until I'm 67 years old (which will mean 46 years in the workforce) and I WILL NOT get a pension because most private businesses don't offer them anymore. I get THREE WEEKS of vacation – and I've been working for almost 30 years. (A couple of my neighbors who have 30 years in as teachers are making over $80K annually. Again, for 8 MONTHS of work. So much for the poor, underpaid teacher.)
That said, I don't have to put up with other peoples' children all day long. I don't have to watch societal dysfunction play out every day at my place of business, the way teachers do. And I don't have to put up with the incompetent management and many many incompetent coworkers that teachers have. As a manager, if I have an incompetent employee, I can fire them. Principals can't. I can hire the best and the brightest candidates I can find. I don't have to deal with union rules and only having candidates to hire who were too stupid to major in something hard in college (and, BTW, I DID major in Education for a year – until I realized how stupid my fellow students were and opted to switch to a more challenging field.) Read Thomas Sowell's book "Inside American Education." There are so many things that need to be fixed, but the unions are the first thing that needs to go.
SCP, I do wish they had taught you how to SPELL, however…
I took on a teacher. She was tenured and a minority from India. I put no pressure on the principal and she was fired within 24 hours of a meeting.
also as a side note, if the only work in town is building some rich guy's dream, then that is your work. nobody wants to do dirty work, but for enough money somebody will do it. i would think back in egypt there wasn't much of a call for aerospace engineers, or computer programmers. and education does not guarantee you will not have a crap job, it is how you apply what you have learned that does that. also why does everybody want a job, instead of an opporunity? do you want to work forever, or be the owner/boss some day?
They teach our kids a bunch of clap-trap so they will accept it when they become voters. There is no God, murder your baby, praise homosexuals, be politically correct, global warming, embrace illegals, big government is the answer to everything. They don't have time for the three RRRs any more, they are too busy turning out idiots that can't speak, write or form a cognizant thought. Big government is their god
Safe Schools? http://usataxpayer.org/?0039156365
House Bill HR4530 – Congress is supporting NAMBLA, GLSEN and LGBT. HR4530 is disguised as a "School Non-Discrimination Bill." Who could possibly be against "non-discrimination," right? The main drive behind this bill is to FORCE SCHOOLS TO TEACH children about ALL forms of PERVERTED SEXUAL BEHAVIOR. Parents will not be able to discriminate or "opt out" their children. YOU WILL HAVE NO RECOURSE!
HR4530 – Congress Pushing Sexual Perversion… http://usataxpayer.org/?0092081630
That is directly to the point. True professionals may have an association they belong to, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, but I don't know of an ME "Union."
Well peteee, there's only so many "boss" roles around, and not too surprisingly, we all can't be one of those, whether through effort, luck or education. I doubt we strengthen the ability of people to overcome obstacles and take on the highly-technical jobs (like aerospace engineers and computer programmers) by telling everyone to just go out and teach themselves.
So I guess we should just change it from government "monopoly" to government "extortion?". Does that make you feel better?
I had a problem too where it said I was timed out, even it still showed me logged in. So I had to log out, start a new page, and then log back in.
Yes, I remember the day that college educated people, formerly respected as professionals, and held in the highest regard, decided to join the ranks of blue collar factory workers. With their union mouth pieces, the public hasn't respected them since.
No, because it's not really extortion either. We all pay for services that perhaps do not directly better our lives, but rather strengthen the country as a whole and lead to better lives for all of us. I may not ever drive on an interstate highway I fund with tax dollars, but I benefit everytime I buy something from a store that needed that highway to get goods to me. (as does the store, its owners, its employees…)
Can you find a teacher who works only 8 months a year? My wife is a teacher and works all but about 6 weeks. But during the school year, she will work nights, weekends. She is at work by 6am and doesn't get home till 4:30 or 5pm. And you are in the private sector…why don't you tell your boss to tell you when you can have vacation…my wife can't take a vacation DAY. Do you have people calling you lazy each day, or racists, or a bitch? Do you have parents calling you because little Johnny failed a test even though he never did any homework. And then have the administration blame you for not motivating the students enough? Do you have everyone blaming you for how well your company performs?
You can blame the teachers all you want, but remember it is more than the teachers who are the problem. Every time you yell at a teacher for your child's behavior, YOU are the problem. Every time you say that the school is the problem and YOU want to dictate how the teacher performs, YOU are the problem.
Just because you are in the private sector means nothing. How well do you think you would perform at work if every single person who came along thought they were your boss and told you how to do your job?
BTW, every company has incompetent workers. There are some in the school system. There are also some where you work.
Finally, my original point had nothing to do with the teachers…My whole point was to say that removing the teachers union will not fix the education problem….there are much bigger issues than the union.
Cardilover, well put. I worked 2 jobs to send my 2 to private schools, no vouchers for us! When I met a few people that supposedly graduated from those "ivy league" schools I knew my children needed private education. I wanted them to learn the "real history" of our country, black, white, whatever………….and guess what, they did!
I got along great with the school teachers and administrators that were doing their job properly. I backed them when my children did something wrong. HOWEVER, I did not hesitate to take anyone to task, from the teacher to the superintendent (I live in the country so there is very easy access) who was not doing their job properly. I wrote letters to the editor, ran for school board, and was generally known in the district as someone who would not put up with nonsense, from either my kids or the school employees. While there is room for improvement in my school district, from the classes that are available, to the teacher quality (of some), and most certainly in the seeming inability to control costs, I will say that I liked the "first name basis" level of communication that I had and for the most part my kids got a good education. I think that most schools do lack in the mathematics area and science area. As for math, I believe the reason for that is the colleges that have "education" degree programs do not require their students to take upper level math courses; and if they didn't learrn it, then they can't teach it properly.
Now you know the poor little black children in the projects (have no daddy that they know anyway), their mama is not the least bit interested in their schooling, unless maybe they are pretty good in basketball, then you can bet she'll be at the school. Dad will too if the child is offered a scholarship for basketball………….I've listed to a lot of them talk, can't understand a thing they say!
I have a friend who is a second grade teacher and loves the students. She is constantly frustrated by the way she is hamstringed (you can't hug a child anymore, you can't give out treats as rewards) and was angry that she was forced to join the union.
You always have a recourse. Pull … your children … OUT!
I suspect all the conservative sites are under assault.
Teachers are not the only union members at the schools, though.
If the objective is to improve public education in the U.S. a starting point is to raise the academic standards back up to where they were when America's students could compete well with students from any country in the world and accept no excuses from those who set on either side of education's table for not adhering to those academic standards. Today, after decades of constantly lowering the academic standards and dumbing down our students, American public education has sunk to the level where our students can no longer compete on Main Street, USA and have no chance of competing on the global economic highway we are all forced to traverse whether we like it or not.
Perhaps the intentions were genuinely good for wanting to make it easier on recent generations; however, the "everyone gets a trophy mentality" that allowed this shredding of the academic standards did much more harm than good. Not only did it result in ill prepared graduates, but it also resulted in our students believing they were not responsible for their actions, earning their way or in providing for their needs. As a result of this ideology, we now are faced with perhaps the greatest number than ever of individuals who are incapable of providing quality lives for themselves and believe they have a right to expect others to provide for them and furnish them with their every needs.
well, we pay gas taxes to pay for roads, as well as tolls, but they spend that money on other things, then they add extra money for other things. but yes, it is extortion. why do you think the teachers unions are against school vouchers? they say it will steal money away from them. but what it says is, they know they are doing a bad job, and the gig is up.
no we can't all be the boss, but we all don't need a boss. the government makes it difficult for individuals to create a small business, so they can more easily control the masses. and yes, if people were driven to learn, they can learn most anything on thier own. go study the longitude prize in england, it was won not by a scientist, or astronomer, but a carpenter who made clocks. they ridiculed the carpenter, and in the end, he was right. today's gps uses the idea this carpenter came up with, and the scientists are still pissed today. you can thank harrison for you personal navigation device.
but the unions cause most of the problems. remember the students in college with the lowest sat scores are the future teachers of our kids. also the least succesful engineers and scientists end up in government. all the crap that does not know which end is up, get a government job. it is difficult to loose a gubmint job, unless you say that on video tape.
i don't start at 6 am, but i work much longer hours at times to get the job done, some days it is 7 am to 12 pm seven days. if i take a day off, i don't get paid, if i don't work on a holiday, i don't get paid. teachers have it made. do they have problems, yes, but overall they have a gravy job. i have been a teacher, not at a school, but i teach photography, and i teach people how to use the machines and processes i have created. teaching is easy.
I defy you to go into any government school in my town and tell me we're strengthening the country. I've never seen so many illiterate, lazy, undisciplined brats in my life. There is little education going on in my town – in fact, the school district is on the verge of being taken over by the state.
Strong families make strong schools. Detroit, Washington D.C., Chicago, all cities with 70-80% illegitimacy rates, no fathers in the home, babies raising babies, and grandmothers raising grandkids. Families in those cities are in complete disarray, thus, the schools are in disarray. No amount of money will fix the problem. It's a moral issue. Too bad we are in a post-moral world.
That enormous baby sitting service didn't teach my kids much of anything valuable – oh wait, yes, they know how to make a pumpkin out of construction paper. Then we decided to take them out of there and teach them at home. Yes, parents who care ARE doing it. I don't know what makes you think the schools can do a better job. Ever been there?
Unions are a corrupting influence on education. They invite laziness and excuses. All property owners pay for educating young people, and we get big mouth demands instead of results. Get rid of the power unions, pay teachers on merit, with no tenure, require discipline and security in schools, and the good teachers will produce.
Here again is a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives understand that it is their personal repsonsibility as a parent to educate their children. Sure the school plays a role, but the life lessons of morality, values, ethics, beliefs, those are all taught at home. Liberals see the education process as a method to advance their personal beliefs on all children. They have the attitude that surely the ignorant parents cannot be expected to teach values to their children, so they figure they will. Only problem…I wouldn't call what the libs have values. Just typical leftist nanny state swill.
As a future teacher, I pray that parents stay involved in their kids education. My personal opinion is that parents should homeschool their kids if possible; therefore, the only kids in public school will be the ones whose parents can't teach them at home. After that, teachers unions should be done away with and vouchers should be issued so that the kids that are in public school have a choice. In the end, the number of teachers paid by the government will go down, waste will go down, and kids will be better educated.
Since when is a child considered a product. Maybe to parents who spend less than 4 hours a day ACTUALLY interacting with their children. It is actually educators that spend over 8 hours a day with these kids. But lets blame them for wanting some sort of compensation for helping raise our future leaders, doctors, teachers, etc. It never fails that Republicans are quick to place blame on something they do not agree with.
Actually, educators do not work for YOU, they work for the children and their education. It is that elitist attitude that produces the children we are ashamed of.
Well said! It is so easy for people who do not know what educators go through to spout off ignorance. I would like to see many of these people walk a day in a teachers shoes and THEN hear what they have to say.
I would like to see this same philosophy applied to parenting. Prove you're a good parent and I'll let you keep your kid.
Teachers do supplement education, but like you said, you were lucky. You are the exception to the many children who have no parental involvement at all. Remember that before you start speaking about teachers not being important.
Are you a teacher? If you were you could actually get what was trying to be said.
The kid is not the product. The education that the child receives is the product. Some parents would prefer a better education for their children.
The old adage about "what you get out of school depends on what you put into it" is partially true. But when a parent's 4 hours of interraction with his children involve teaching reading, writing and arithmetic because the union teachers would rather teach gender exploration and self-esteem, then there's a problem. Teachers are paid with our tax money because they provide a service (product) which we value. If the service is no longer worth the price, then we look elsewhere for a better product. My experience with union teachers is 100% the latter. There may be good union teachers out there, but they're the exception, not the norm.
I don't agree with our current education system. The teachers, by and large, do not care about the students, instead they care about their benefits, their paycheck, their own bottom line. I've had teachers who would work for free, because they loved their job, and they loved to teach. I've also had teachers who were just there to punch the clock.
txstrat, what ya wanna bet the person who successfully sued McDonalds a few years back,, because their coffee was hot when it spilled on them, wasn't a life-long Liberal?
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