Re: Obama XIV: President VISTA with SP2
One of the myths lefties tell their kids around the campfire is: "if we'd just spend more on education, we'd get a better result. Lower the student/teacher ratio to say, one to one, and by golly you'd see those test scores sky rocket." 'Course the countries that are beating our azz in education don't have nearly the number of teachers per student that we do. Hmmm. What accounts for that? In a week when one teacher's union is demanding ED medication, one doesn't have to look very far.
The only sector in our economy where unions are growing in power and membership is the public sector. That means unionized public employees get to vote on who their "bosses" will be. Here's a huge surprise, the slugs running for public office cater to these union thugs by promising them the moon. As long as times are good, no problem. But when the economy slows, look out. And don't even talk about quality when it comes to teachers. Don't even suggest that maybe bad teachers should be fired. NYC has thousands of substandard teachers, still drawing salaries, who've been culled from the heard, but can't be fired. Instead, they report to "work" everyday and spend their time reading the paper, watching TV and smoking.
A few years ago you may recall a federal judge decided the Kansas City school system was his own private experimental lab. He took over the system and mandated millions of dollars of expenditures for green houses, fishing ponds, velodromes and the like. His "reasoning" was that if inner city kids had access to the same facilities as kids from wealthier neighborhoods, they would do better in class. Here's a big surprise, they didn't. So now those lousy KC inner city schools are equipped with world class doo dads, they're still not educating their students. Maybe they need to sped MORE money.
In the meantime, teacher's unions fight like h**l to make sure inner city kids are required to go to these failing schools. Marva Collins of Chicago's West Side Prep fought the unions there constantly. One of my favorite moments was a 60 Minutes segment on Collins. Morley Safer was interviewing a beautiful little girl who had flunked out of a Chicago pubic school. He asked her who her favorite auther was. Her answer? Chaucer!
Even if she was just showing off, the fact remains this 10 year old knew there was somebody named Chaucer, which I suspect the majority of little kids in Chicago can't say. Teacher's unions are adamantly opposed to any change in the status quo because those changes threaten their political power. For the last several Democratic conventions, the largest single group of delegates has been unionized teachers.
The largest teacher's union, NEA, disguises what it's all about by calling itself the "National Education Association." Sounds like a non profit devoted to improving education right? Not a power house, bare knuckles union devoted to what all unions are devoted to: improving salaries, working conditions and benefits, thus increasing membership and political clout. I hope I'm not being too Jesuitical to point out those goals do not automatically translate into better quality teachers, which might have some positive upside for the quality of education our kids receive.
I worked with a reporter in Houston whose beat was Austin. And the word "union" would never pass his lips. He referred to teachers "groups," which the unions certainly are. But the use of the word "groups" obfuscated the true nature of these organizations and failed to fully inform our listeners. Just as I believe many millions of Americans are a little fuzzy on what the NEA and its affiliates are all about. If you're a union, why not just call yourself a union. Why do they think they need to shade the truth? Could it be that many Americans are still laboring under the delusion that teachers care first about the kids and themselves second?
