TEACHERS UNIONS: TOXICITY IN AMERICA
Let’s start with a few fundamental truths.
-
Teachers' unions prioritize the rights and well-being of their members, often advocating for policies and initiatives that enhance educators' professional lives over children's well-being. The truth of this assertion is evident from the union’s vehement opposition to testing teachers periodically for teaching competency and subject-matter knowledge. The union’s continuing refusal to support school choice which encourages competition and superior performance. Supporting policies of teaching to the lowest common denominator to raise poorly performing students to mediocrity rather than helping well-performing students achieve excellence. Fighting against dismissals of incompetent, apathetic, or teacher misconduct.
-
Marxist influences on teachers' unions can be seen in their emphasis on collective action, social justice, and challenging the power dynamics within education systems. In many cases, indoctrinating children into a liberal social movement rather than educating them on the fundamentals needed to succeed as an adult.
-
Teachers' unions, like other public and private sector unions, use a combination of thuggery, peer pressure, and sanctions to hold their membership captive and in lockstep with an agenda they may not personally endorse.
-
Teachers' unions are a recognizable source of political corruption as they use their member’s funds to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Ninety-eight percent of all political contributions flow to Democrats who espouse a liberal philosophy and are willing to engage in a quid pro quo arrangement that benefits the unions.
Campaign Contributions: Like other interest groups, teachers' unions can make campaign contributions to political candidates. While this practice is legal and commonly used by teachers' unions to support candidates who align with their interests, many contributions are excessive or used to secure special favors or influence.
Favoritism and Nepotism: In some cases, teachers' unions may exert influence over political appointments and promotions within the education system. This can lead to favoritism or nepotism, where individuals are hired or promoted based on personal connections or political affiliations rather than merit. Such practices undermine the integrity of the education system and can be considered a form of corruption.
Political Pressure and Lobbying: Teachers' unions often lobby to influence education policies, funding decisions, and labor laws. While lobbying is a legitimate part of the democratic process, excessive or unethical lobbying can lead to undue influence and corruption. If unions use their political clout to push for policies solely benefiting their members without considering the broader interests of students or the public, it can be seen as a form of corruption.
Mismanagement of Funds: Teachers' unions often collect dues from their members to fund their activities, including political advocacy. Instances have arisen where union officials mismanage or embezzle these funds, constituting corruption within the union itself. This type of corruption affects the organization's integrity and erodes public trust.
With students failing in Oakland schools…
|
Oakland high school students are being set up for failure. ‘Dumping the D’ can help UC and CSU, two of the largest university systems in the nation, require that high schoolers achieve a passing grade on each of their core academic courses, known as “A-G courses.” These courses include subjects that are foundational to a high school education, including history, English, mathematics, science and foreign languages. Since the mid-1990s, UC and CSU have designated a passing grade to be a C or above. However, many districts, including Oakland Unified School District, continue to count a D as passing. That means a student can get what the school tells them and what they think are passing grades in core courses across four years of high school, only to find out when college admissions season comes along that they had one, two, three or more grades that disqualified them from getting into UC or CSU. In addition to “Dumping the D,” the school system should implement an easy-to-understand early warning system that communicates to students if they’re on track with their A-G requirements. A red, yellow, green color-coded system on report cards would be easily understood and effective. This warning system should then be coupled with parental notification and support from school staff for any student receiving a yellow or red warning. <Source> Teachers union continues to sabotage Oakland schools The arrogance and entitlement of teachers unions are pushing more and more parents to the brink, even in the liberal cities where teachers unions have been allowed to destroy children’s education. Oakland is proposing to put its teachers above the average pay in the region which, of course, isn’t good enough for Oakland’s teachers union. The Oakland Education Association is calling for a strike, saying the district isn’t negotiating “in good faith,” which could lead to a strike before the end of the school year. The union is also demanding smaller class sizes and “racially-just" schools, in case it isn’t clear how unserious it is. Oakland’s school district is about to go broke and can’t even get 40% of students to reach state English standards, and yet the teachers union’s priority is more money for teachers, which means more money being funneled to the union. This is how Oakland’s schools have been stuck in a loop of failure for years. It will take parents more than just a petition to change that, but it’s a promising start. <Source> |
The union is all about climate justice…
|
Oakland Teachers Strike for Climate Justice The union’s demands go far beyond pay and work conditions. The strike by the 3,000-member Oakland Education Association in California is heading into its fifth day, and the impasse isn’t over pay. The district has offered a record raise that would immediately increase salaries by 22% plus a $5,000 bonus. Most workers would love that increase, especially if performance doesn’t matter. The Oakland Unified School District has lost students for five consecutive years as families have fled to suburbs with higher-performing and safer schools. This has resulted in a financial squeeze, which was only partly mitigated by federal pandemic aid. The district has had to close schools to reduce costs. Yet the union’s demands go far beyond teacher pay or working conditions. For instance, the union wants the district to repurpose vacant school buildings for homeless housing and to landscape school yards with drought-resistant trees. The union also wants reparations for black students to remedy alleged historic injustices. How about instead remedying the enormous learning deficits the union has caused by protecting bad teachers and closing schools during the pandemic? Perhaps the district could extend the school year, or, better yet, provide families with private school vouchers? Instead, the union wants the first week of school each year to focus on creating a “positive school culture,” whatever that means, rather than instruction. It is also demanding a “Climate Justice Day for standards-based teach-ins, workshops, action, and field trips.” Maybe kids can’t read, but they can be unemployed climate warriors. <Source> |
Teachers' unions are not about teachers; they are a political construct, initially designed to protect teachers from abuse from above. And, now, they are political machines that support their Marxist origins and agenda. They seek political power over traditionally educated students.
Bottom line…
Don’t get me wrong, teachers as individuals are often great. However, many are simply useful idiots who have been collectivized and cowed by their respective unions.
My solutions are simple: eliminate public employee unions. Pay for performance, and do not place over-qualified/over-educated teachers with master's degrees in elementary classes. Restrict pay bumps in the lower grades to special education specialists. Sidetrack all non-English speaking students before mainstreaming them into regular classes. Enforce discipline – force parents to attend school with their ill-behaved children.
If we continue to dumb down the system, all that will be left are progressive communist democrat sheeple.
Life does not have a rewind button, and we are turning out another generation of functional illiterates, ill-prepared to be productive human beings saddled with the outcome of being just another victim with a grievance.
We are so screwed.
-- Steve
“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS