Warner Todd Huston
All teachers unions must fall, not just Wisconsin's
By Warner Todd Huston
The lies that have been peddled by the unions in Wisconsin are legion. They are claiming that Walker has a budget surplus he's hiding, he isn't. They have been claiming that it "isn't about the money," but it is. They have even claimed to be "sick" by having real doctors issue falsified sick letters so that they can play hooky from school, shutting down both Wisconsin's government and its schools. These lefties have also claimed that Governor Walker has surprised everyone with his anti-union drive.
On the that last one, nothing could be further than the truth. Governor Walker's entire political career has been filled with similar pronouncements, policies, and attempts at policies.
But there is one more lie that is universal across the education establishment: more money will fix everything. A singular fact is that more and more money being pumped into education is not fixing anything. To prove that, we can turn to Central Falls school in Rhode Island for a little morality play.
Some may recall that back in February of 2010 the superintendent of Central Falls school fired every single teacher in the school over a universal failure to teach and for refusing to make budget concessions.
The whole thing blew over after a short interim of national notoriety, but the sad fact is that these teachers not only didn't stay fired but they ended up with even more money. This in and of itself was a crime because these failed teaches are making over $72K a year in a community that averages $22K a year all for a student failure rate exceeding 90%.
Even with all this failure, the teachers all got their jobs back with $3,000 per teacher bonuses based on the idea that even more money would fix everything. It didn't.
A year later, after raises were given from money gotten through a school improvement grant program, the failure rate is unchanged and now teachers are making $76K per year while the local taxpayers are still making $22K per year.
What we have here is a clear indication that money does not equate to a good education for our kids. We need better solutions, real solutions, not just wads of good cash thrown after bad.
In Washington DC there was a pilot voucher program that was working well for the inner city kids there. Kids were succeeding, parents loved it, and the school was working well. Naturally the teachers union was against it because it took power from them and gave it to parents. Also because the money followed the student and didn;t just go into the coffers of teachers union hacks.
Teachers unions are the problem in the American educational system. To improve America's educational system unions need to be neutered at the least, eliminated at best.
© Warner Todd Huston
February 25, 2011
The lies that have been peddled by the unions in Wisconsin are legion. They are claiming that Walker has a budget surplus he's hiding, he isn't. They have been claiming that it "isn't about the money," but it is. They have even claimed to be "sick" by having real doctors issue falsified sick letters so that they can play hooky from school, shutting down both Wisconsin's government and its schools. These lefties have also claimed that Governor Walker has surprised everyone with his anti-union drive.
On the that last one, nothing could be further than the truth. Governor Walker's entire political career has been filled with similar pronouncements, policies, and attempts at policies.
But there is one more lie that is universal across the education establishment: more money will fix everything. A singular fact is that more and more money being pumped into education is not fixing anything. To prove that, we can turn to Central Falls school in Rhode Island for a little morality play.
Some may recall that back in February of 2010 the superintendent of Central Falls school fired every single teacher in the school over a universal failure to teach and for refusing to make budget concessions.
The whole thing blew over after a short interim of national notoriety, but the sad fact is that these teachers not only didn't stay fired but they ended up with even more money. This in and of itself was a crime because these failed teaches are making over $72K a year in a community that averages $22K a year all for a student failure rate exceeding 90%.
Even with all this failure, the teachers all got their jobs back with $3,000 per teacher bonuses based on the idea that even more money would fix everything. It didn't.
A year later, after raises were given from money gotten through a school improvement grant program, the failure rate is unchanged and now teachers are making $76K per year while the local taxpayers are still making $22K per year.
What we have here is a clear indication that money does not equate to a good education for our kids. We need better solutions, real solutions, not just wads of good cash thrown after bad.
In Washington DC there was a pilot voucher program that was working well for the inner city kids there. Kids were succeeding, parents loved it, and the school was working well. Naturally the teachers union was against it because it took power from them and gave it to parents. Also because the money followed the student and didn;t just go into the coffers of teachers union hacks.
Teachers unions are the problem in the American educational system. To improve America's educational system unions need to be neutered at the least, eliminated at best.
© Warner Todd Huston
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