Sunday, October 24, 2010

Turn and Turn About

One of public education's problems is the teachers' union, which often uses parents' desires to have a good education for their children, to gain excessive wealth and benefits for themselves. How do we define excessive? Here's some of my ideas. When many occupations don't see raises for years, but the teachers' union demands raises every year, that's excessive. When unemployment numbers are soaring and taxpayers find it harder to meet their own family's needs, but teachers' unions still demand the same size raise, that's excessive. When health care premiums are rising for just about everyone, but a teachers' union still demands absolutely free health care benefits for its members, that's excessive. When a state is going bankrupt, but a union insists they still receive what they're used to, in the end, that helps no one. Individual teachers can be great (winks at Katie,) but the union is too demanding and uses "the children" far too often.

Watch Chris Christie here as he takes apart the teachers' union in his state. One thing I like about Governor Christie is that he uses facts and hard numbers when talking about the issues. Also, he doesn't need a teleprompter.

1 comment:

skatey katie said...

lol - maybe america values teachers more than NZ. we are locked in a union/govt wrangle here atm. i am sure inflation is rising faster than teachers' salaries. and it's been such an eye opener, returning to the classroom - it's a zoo out there lol. but seriously, what a huge job - 30 kids in every classroom - time is the constant and learning is the variable. there must be a magic fairy wand somewhere.
yup X