The Monsters of McMinnville, Oregon: Radical Teachers’ Union Gets MEAn

If one bad apple spoils the bushel, what happens when the whole bushel is rotten?

In a sleepy little suburb outside of Portland, Oregon, there is a monster lurking in the classroom, teaching schoolchildren their three Rs—Reading, Radicalism & Reprisal. The monster is known as the McMinnville Education Association [MEA].

McMinnville School District is in negotiations with the MEA (hereafter to be known as MEAn) and has been since last year (with the occasional help of a mediator), with the parties having been millions apart.  However, according to local press reports, with a state school budget crisis, while some progress has been made, so far an agreement has been elusive.

Nevertheless, as negotiations have dragged on over months, the MEAn has gotten…well…MEAner.

On Valentine’s Day, prior to the McMinnville School Board meeting, the McMinnville Area of Commerce’s Governmental Affairs Committee had sent out a statement (via e-mail) to hundreds of local businesses and residents. That evening, at the school board meeting, Leslie “LV” VanBlaricom (a member of the chamber’s board of directors) read the statement (text below the fold). Apparently, her reading of the letter did not sit well with MEAn, who then allegedly had her fired from her job: (more…)