Education

A Very Inconvenient Truth: Director Laments Teachers’ Unions

This week, we showed you the trailer from the new documentary on public education called “Waiting for Superman.” The film explains that public education is failing, and that alternatives (such as charter schools) are filling the void. But who does the director — the same one who directed Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” — fault, in part, for the downfall? Teachers’ unions.

“The [public school] system we’ve built works really well for the adults, like the unions, and the bureaucracy, and even the parents, but it’s not working for the kids,” the film’s director Davis Guggenheim tells CNN yesterday.

The New York Times explains the movie’s message like this: “Mr. Guggenheim is clear about why so many urban schools have failed students: They harbor too many bad teachers, whose unions protect them.”

And if the teachers‘ union reaction is any indication of the film’s content, Guggenheim could be on to a very inconvenient truth. According to the Times, Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million-strong American Federation of Teachers, issued a public response Sept. 9 calling the film “inaccurate, inconsistent and incomplete.” She objected to his portrayal of charter schools as the saviors of education, while painting teachers’ unions as villainous.

Yet Guggenheim admits he doesn’t necessarily favor charters as the only solution (he tried to film the movie in a magnet school in L.A. but was denied), even though the film follows five students as they wait to be rescued from the public school system through a charter school lottery.

He anticipated the criticism, and knew the film could be considered offensive. But he tried to keep politics out of it: “I know the inside-baseball people in education will criticize it. I was always saying to myself: ‘Davis, you’re not an education expert. Tell the story from the point of view of a kid trying to find a good school.’”

Some are still waiting.

Comments (78)

1 2
  • natstew
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 11:07am

    I am not a segregationist, but here is a truth and it’s not about intergration or segregation, it’s about politicians taking the easy way out of a tough situation. Why do I blame the politicians instead of teachers? Because the teachers had no choice.

    The downfall of our school systems began with intergration, teachers unions came later and made it 100 times worse.
    When black and white culture was thrown together overnight it caused overwhelming problems. White teachers were beat up for failing black kids, white teachers were beat up for discipling black kids. If the teachers protested they were accused of racism The politicians pressured the law to take the side of the blacks for political reasons, the teachers gave up and quit or just stayed and quit teaching. The children took over the classrooms and that was the end of adult control of the classrooms.
    Who was the loser? The kids, black and white. I speak from experience, I lived it and had children in school during it.

    SPEAKING THE TRUTH IS NOT RACISM!

    Report Post »  
  • Midwest Belle
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:50am

    I agree that unions have screwed up our education system. Bad teachers SHOULD be replaced (as in FIRED). As my children were growing up, I’ve had many arguments with progressive teachers who were trying “new math” and such. When my kids (now in their 30s)couldn’t understand what they were being taught, I would ask the teacher to teach ME the lesson my kids failed to understand. The thing is, I’m educated, and I understood their concepts but there was an easier way. Basically, I had to teach my kids math, along with a few other things they failed to learn in public school(s).

    My question was always “If my child doesn’t “Get it”, how many others aren’t getting it too? Sometimes thinking (and teaching) “outside the box” isn’t always the most efficient way to teach a concept.

    Report Post » Midwest Blonde  
  • natstew
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:49am

    Wasn’t the first thing Obama did was to permenantly suspend school vouchers in D.C., blocking poor black children a way out and condemning them to a life in the getto? Wasn’t school vouchers driving teachers unions crazy?

    Report Post »  
  • BeanSprout
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:24am

    If you were paying for a service that was so horrible, would you stay with it for 12 years?? No. But that’s what we do with our kids. If everyone who was sick of the school system pulled their kids out and homeschooled them for a year, they would be forced to change the system, and fast. No more empty promises to “fix education” they would have no choice but to act. And maybe we‘d all discover that it doesn’t take a school “system,” ie: government sponsored propaganda for children, to educate America’s children.

    Report Post »  
  • moelarrycurly
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:23am

    Parents need to take back their power. The government and these teachers unions have had to much say so in how your children are taught. The best thing that could happen is that you decide where your tax dollars go.
    My Mother took me out of public school in 1980. She worked one full time job and two part time jobs to put me into a Christian school. We were poor (although I didn’t know it). In tenth grade I returned to public school due to a move. I found that I was reviewing things that I had already learned. In the middle of the year I tested out of high school. And I tested in the top 1% of the nation in science and math. I started college the following fall-A full year earlier than if I had stayed in public school. (Or if ever-had I had stayed in public school).
    When Parents get to choose where their tax dollars go-they get to choose a great many other things too. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to use your tax dollars to send your kids to a school that teaches not just the required subjects, but the values you would want your children to learn. Some would argue the separation of church and state-but I would remind you that it is no where in the Constitution (The separation of church and state). Parents, rich or poor need to make a decision on how they want their children taught. And morality and ethics is something that hasn’t been in the public school curriculum for decades.
    I was appalled at what was being taught in my Son’s government class. Pure, even concentrated progressivism.. Only a short history and a brief study of the Constitution, but more that a week on Woodrow Wilson-And no mention of the fact that he had people thrown in prison for speaking out against him-thousands of people…Pay attention folks. Pay very close attention to what is going on in your class rooms today. It is indoctrination and revisionist history.

    Report Post »  
  • flagbearer
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:22am

    Unions aren’t the only problem with education. There are states where unions are against the law–thank God! Until we change what/how teachers are trained in education classes and brainwashed into ideologies that hurt our children, education here in America is doomed. There are so many different philosophies that teachers have that it is almost impossible to change things. I agree that schools should be controlled on a local basis, but that has pitfalls as well. Remember, too, that a school is a microcosm of our society at large. I personally feel that the first step is to eliminate the Department of Education. The second step is to throw out all progressive teachings. The third step is to install and uphold principles and moral values in our schools. We need to remember that education was a privilege at one time, not a right. If someone wants the right to an education, he/she should meet the responsibilities that it requires. For too long, teachers have been considered convenient babysitters.

    Report Post »  
    • moelarrycurly
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 11:02am

      very well said. The dumbing down of America is decades old. Teachers have been taught these ideologies that conflict with the very values that has made America the greatest nation on Earth. We need real teachers-who are proud of our country-to teach in these classrooms. And we need ones who will not continue to promote the divisive nature of politics today in our classrooms-such as controversial race issues. Like the teacher in California getting his class to go and protest AZ while promoting la raza and marxist views in his class room.

      Report Post »  
  • BoilitDown
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:53am

    I believe that the majority of teachers do not approve of the actions of their unions. The union dues they pay are used against and their students. This is a blight in America.
    I’ve been against unions since I was an AFL-CIO member and it was explained to me by the shop steward that I had to slow down and not try so hard to do such a good job on the assembly line because that would make it harder on everyone else. My efforts would increase the expectations from the employer which, of course, was against union policy.
    Lowered expectations from teachers cannot stand!
    Union propoganda claims prosperity and security for their workers. Union propoganda claims quility work for the employers. If you look a the history, you find quite the opposite to be true in the long term. Many unions leave a wake of destruction and misery while telling their workers that the union was looking out for their well being.
    I personally believe that public unions need to be outlawed immediately before they cause any more destruction to our country. Yes, I realize this is unrealistic, but I can dream.
    There is a push back against the unions by teachers who have a real concern for their students.

    Report Post »  
    • wingedwolf
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:56am

      Amen. I was a drycleaner and presser in the 80′s, and I was forced to join the union, which I fought against but a walk-out was threatened. One day, 3 men in 3 piece suits walked into that place and spoke to my boss, who got me from my work and made me go with the men to her office. She did not accompany us. I was warned to slow down my work, to stop making my colleagues look bad or else. The industry standard was 30 pcs per hr, the other pressers did 10-11pcs per hr, and I was doing 60 pcs per hr. The plant was working 14 hr. per day, and we were 3 days behind on the clothes, and it was demanded that I slow down “or else.” I got another job and have never considered a job again where the union was present. And I have always made more per hour and had better benefits than my union counterparts BECAUSE I DID A very good job and saved my employer a lot of money, which he has always passed on to me. If I ever owned a business and the employees wanted a union, I would shut and lock the place immediately.

      Report Post » wingedwolf  
  • rocktruth
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:24am

    Without parent involvement learning will be hindered. Parents must actively participate with their child’s education. Parents can not rely on government or private educational institutions to teach their children everything they need to know about life, especially moral choices, self control, and good work ethics. This goes back to the fallible thinking that the government can solve all our problems. They can’t. We must.

    Report Post » rocktruth  
  • seniorcitizen
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:23am

    I was educated before teacher’s unions. Those educated with that same education put a man on the moon, invented the computer, brought us TV, cell phones etc. Somehow I don‘t think that those educated after the 60’s are going to be so inventive, creative or productive. The goal of any union is to be supportive of the members and officials. In this case, the children are neither. And when you throw in the federal involvement with the Education Dept, which has it’s own political agenda, you have bad education.

    Report Post »  
    • seniorcitizen
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:31am

      My parents onlywere involved with the school if we misbehaved – saying that parents have to be involved is dismissing the goal and responsibility of the school. Our parents only supported the school when punishment was handed out instead of suing.

      Report Post »  
    • rocktruth
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:02am

      Good points!

      Report Post » rocktruth  
    • DanSt
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:13am

      Although my parents loved me, they were far to busy trying to feed and cloth me to teach me to read and write in the early sixties…Thankfully at that time we had teachers that understood that teaching children to read and write was what they were being paid to do…As the Progressives continue to implant their indoctrinations into our public schools, no longer are the three R’s the number one priority…Now our children must first know how to put on a condom and embrace the homosexual lifestyle…Johnny may not know how to read that wrapper, but he sure knows how to put that rubber on…And we wonder what has happened to this country…Reagan fought against these same Progressive communists in the late forties…it’s time to renew that fight…

      Report Post »  
  • wingedwolf
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:20am

    My father was a teacher union member until he retired, and was disgusted with it. The union made it impossible to fire a teacher who was physically abusing 2nd grade children, of whom I was one. This teacher broke 9″ off a yardstick over my schoolmate’s head, because he had a metal plate there due to an accident. His crime? She liked your writing to be light gray, requiring a light touch with the pencil and his writing was dark gray; apparently he had pushed too hard on the pencil. I lie not! She dragged one of us around the room by her hair, because she said it was too long and should be cut or piled on top of her head. She beat me up and down my back with my shoe, because I had taken my shoes off because my feet got wet and my sock were uncomfortable in them. When my mother saw those marks up and down my back, she went ballistic, yet nothing was done. She told the class that there was an alligator pit in the principal’s office and that if we went there, he would throw us in. One day a classmate‘s mom brought his lunch because he’d forgotten it, and he was called to the office to retrieve it, and he pooped his pants right there in his chair, because he knew he was about to be fed to the alligators. My mother finally stopped her by coming in to school with a tire iron at 8:30 in the morning. My dad was livid because all efforts to get her out of the classroom had failed as she had tenure and he cursed that union. My mother wasn’t arrested and the abuse stopped for THAT year, anyway. I refuse to debate my mother’s actions, just like the dad on the school bus, she was trying to protect me from an ADULT bully when I was 6 years old. She had scared all of us so badly that when we were questioned about her, which they did by bringing one person into the classroom and addressing the entire class with her there in the classroom glaring threateningly at us, and we would be asked, “class, did Mrs. duckhead pull (child’s) hair?” we all would look at our feet and mumble because their WOULD be retaliation after the questioning party left, she had proven that over and over. Before you start judging, remember WE WERE 6 AND 7 YEARS OLD!. And we knew we would get thrown into the alligator pit or some other horror. If you need to know how horrible it was, out of 22 students in that classroom, 7 of us committed suicide before the age of 21. To me, that is astonishing. I only dream that when she does or has met her maker, there was SOME kind of answering. The point is that one teacher can destroy the lives of thousands of kids; I only kept track of that one classroom full. We don’t know how many children she did real harm to before or after us, or what the actual death toll is in suicides or drug deaths, all the other things people who were abused while young fall into, you name it. All I know is that this teacher‘s OWN COLLEAGUES couldn’t get her fired because of the teacher’s union. That should tell everyone all they need to know about the teacher’s union. I spit on that union. I STILL have nightmares about what happened in that classroom, many years later. This is who controls what happens to our kids and what kind of education they get. We weren’t blessed with kids, but if we had been, they would have gone to private or Catholic school, anywhere THAT UNION couldn’t harm them, because of what I experienced. And we’re not talking about an inner-city school where they are understaffed and overworked, we’re talking about a very affluent suburb of Pittsburgh, PA where classes are smaller and teachers are much better paid. Unions may have been a good thing when they came into being, but no more. They were given so much power by their members, who never held them accountable, that they can no longer be reasoned with and really only exist to feed themselves more power.

    Report Post » wingedwolf  
    • moelarrycurly
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 11:04am

      I am so sorry for what happened to you. You are in my prayers.

      Report Post »  
    • Tracking
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 6:11pm

      My heavens. How hard it must have been for you to even write this. You need to consider sending this to every Senator and member of Congress. Especially those who support the Unions and the Dept. of Education. Tell your story. Tell it here on the Blaze. We are listening. They need to see some of the examples of what’s happened and what could and may be happening even now.
      My very best to you and all the others who live with this memory every day.

      Report Post »  
    • dmforman
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:10pm

      I believe what you say to be true. In my district there was a 2nd grade teacher who was a known alcoholic. She’d come back from lunch drunk and to work drunk. Everyone knew this and it wasn’t until a boy who was deathly allergic to bees was stung by a bee and almost died that they were able to get her out of the classroom.

      As a former teacher, it disgusts me when other teachers know that there are bad teachers who aren’t doing the right thing, yet don’t speak up about it. If you remain quiet, you are doing just as much harm as the teacher not doing right by the children.

      I hope that America wakes up and realizes that the government doesn’t want your child to be educated. They don’t want your child to think or read too well or be able to do math too well. I truly believe this in my heart.

      I left teaching in May and I am not looking back. My own child will be home schooled, because I want him to be a thinker and to understand math, science, how to write complete sentences and have other skills that intelligent people have. Our public schools are pitiful, but I firmly believe they are okay with the type of education being delivered to our children (ALL American children). Why else would they allow unions to cover up poor teachers and allow for our failing schools? One failing school is too many in my book.

      Parents wake up and realize that your children are not being educated and that this is what the government wants.

      Report Post »  
  • unashamed conservative
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:16am

    We are very fortunate to live in an excellent district, well supported financially and by the community, that uses about 70% of property taxes in the most responsible of ways. I know my kids are learning and excelling. ALL THAT BEING SAID, I am still shocked when a teacher newsletter comes home with typos and grammatical errors. I can‘t imagine what it’s like for kids attending where that’s the norm and not the exception. I have always said all the money in the world makes NOT a good education. We must demand teachers whose professions AND passion are one in the same and parents MUST demand of themselves the required time to partner with your child and their teacher.

    Report Post »  
  • DanSt
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:10am

    As bad as the unions themselves are, the problem lies with parents also, who are too damn stupid to understand what is good for their own kids…A case in point are the voters of the DC district who just recently removed The government had reason to know that an attack was going to take place and failed to take action? I can buy that. Mayor Fenty from office primarily for his support of the diligent efforts of Chancellor Michelle Rhee to turn around one the worst school systems in the country. It seems the parents found her efforts to make their kids smarter than they are quite offensive…But let’s be real…I blogged when Barry Obama took office that had he been serious about true school “reform”, he would have enrolled his kids in the DC District to highlight the “good news” that Ms. Rhee had been spreading to students…But alas, privilege has it’s privileges…

    Report Post »  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 2:38pm

      I have maintained that if you work for the government, whether voted in or hired by, your children should be in public school. When the lottery was passed in FL my kids were in jr. high. The lottery was supposed to be used to “supplement” education only, not prop it up. All of a sudden teachers were using front and back of paper because their funding had been cut, or buying supplies out of their own pockets. I suspect the unions got their pensions propped up. Legislative people were sending their kids to private school so what did they care? As I told them back then (30 yrs), you are looking at this thru “rose-colored glasses” and not seeing the real picture. Nor did they seem to care. REFORM, REFORM, REFORM and force the unions out!

      Report Post »  
    • sherioramsey
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 2:47pm

      Let me tell what too damn stupid is; my daughter was given material to learn from a ABC interview with George S. that Obama was not a Muslim. She brought it home with her history notebook with a study on religion. When discussing Evangelical Chritianity, GOD was spelled G-D. I found it quite ironic that they would not spell out the word GOD, but insists that Obama is Christian, and went on to spell Allah correctly. Kind of an oxymoronic thing, but I’am the dumb ass. I do not care what religion he is as long as he does not force it on me, but when I complained about this, I was told that this is part of the cirriculum in her 10th grade history class. So my dumb ass went on to ask more questions to which they retorted to me as if I was a dumb ass. Go figure?

      Report Post »  
    • DanSt
      Posted on September 25, 2010 at 9:28am

      Absolutely Grandma, it‘s truly amazing how many teachers don’t put their kids in the public school systems they work in…and don’t even get me started on the elected pols…private schools all the way…

      Report Post »  
  • MrUglyAmerican
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:07am

    I think one of the REAL reason why our public schools are failing is the progressive curriculum is training the students to think collectively through the mandatory use of the dialectic process. Subjective opinions and feelings replace objective facts and certainties, and compromise becomes a habit. Many of the new functions – such as national testing and the school-to-work linkage – now operate through private organizations which are not accountable to concerned parents. Students who resist the change face growing intolerance and pressures to conform and teachers that do not teach to the tests are scrutnized, chastised and blamed for poor test results. Unless the process is reversed, the students will fail to earn their entrance pass to work or higher education – even more relevant now that the student loan business is soley government owned!

    Essentially, our lackadaisical culture and de-emphasis on competition through progressive/socialist ideology has doomed our kids to be socially transformed into little worker drones, incapable of independent thought or critical analysis, wholly dependant on group interaction by training them to think collectively through the mandatory use of the dialectic process.

    Report Post »  
  • MrUglyAmerican
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:02am

    As a former public school teacher, I believe the REAL reason why our public schools are failing is the progressive curriculum is training the students to think collectively through the mandatory use of the dialectic process. Subjective opinions and feelings replace objective facts and certainties, and compromise becomes a habit. Many of the new functions – such as national testing and the school-to-work linkage – now operate through private organizations which are not accountable to concerned parents. Students who resist the change face growing intolerance and pressures to conform and teachers that do not teach to the tests are scrutnized, chastised and blamed for poor test results. Unless the process is reversed, the students will fail to earn their entrance pass to work or higher education – some of the calculated steps toward total social transformation in American schools include:
    - Rewrite history to discredit nationalism and promote globalism.
    - Teach thinking “skills” based on feelings and experience, not facts and reason.
    - Encourage loyalty to peers and teachers, not family and churches.
    - Immerse students in global beliefs and values.
    - Condition students to serve a “greater whole”.
    - Block opposition to the new global paradigm.
    Essentially, our lackadaisical culture and de-emphasis on competition through progressive/socialist ideology has doomed our kids to be socially transformed into little worker drones, incapable of independent thought or critical analysis, wholly dependant on group interaction by training them to think collectively through the mandatory use of the dialectic process.

    Report Post »  
  • MrUglyAmerican
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:58am

    As a former public school teacher, I believe the REAL reason why our public schools are failing is the progressive curriculum is training the students to think collectively through the mandatory use of the dialectic process. Subjective opinions and feelings replace objective facts and certainties, and compromise becomes a habit. Few children are prepared to stand firm on the moral values promoted by Christianity (dogma considered offensive and myopic to the ‘new’ doctrine). The process for change is already in place – Initiated by former President Bush, the new education system cuts across partisan lines. Focused on socialization rather than traditional education, it fits as easily into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Labor as into an Department of Education. Many of the new functions – such as national testing and the school-to-work linkage – now operate through private organizations which are not accountable to concerned parents. Students who resist the change face growing intolerance and pressures to conform and teachers that do not teach to the tests are scrutnized, chastised and blamed for poor test results. Unless the process is reversed, the students will fail to earn their entrance pass to work or higher education – even more relevant now that the student loan business is soley government owned!
    Examples of some of the calculated steps toward total social transformation in American schools include:
    - Rewrite history to discredit nationalism and promote globalism.
    - Teach thinking “skills” based on feelings and experience, not facts and reason.
    - Encourage loyalty to peers and teachers, not family and churches.
    - Immerse students in global beliefs and values.
    - Condition students to serve a “greater whole”.
    - Block opposition to the new global paradigm.
    Essentially, our lackadaisical culture and de-emphasis on competition through progressive/socialist ideology has doomed our kids to be socially transformed into little worker drones, incapable of independent thought or critical analysis, wholly dependant on group interaction by training them to think collectively through the mandatory use of the dialectic process.

    Report Post »  
  • kblink45
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:52am

    The single most important factor in a school’s success may be its principal. The founding principal of our school was a true conservative and a genuine intellectual. He knew nearly every inch of the curriculum and he also taught classes in the high school. He gave insightful and targeted advice and effectively communicated the mission of the school — to impart good values and core understanding — to parents and students alike. This is not to say that he was perfect — he had significant blind-spots — but his leadership was crucial. Unfortunately, the board (in my opinion) pushed him out the door partially because they entertained a more egalitarian view and because he was a difficult person to manage. Now the school is in the middle of what promises to be a precipitous descent. In most public schools the principals are not intellectuals. They are bureaucrats. Many are former Phys. Ed. instructors or burnt out teachers. Teaching is a difficult job, but there isn’t a more difficult job than effectively managing teachers. And unions have guaranteed that this management never happens.

    Report Post » kblink45  
  • hempstead1944
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:51am

    They did their job…..dumbed down a whole generation. Thank you teachers unions!

    Report Post »  
    • Tracking
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 6:03pm

      Amen. A lot of truth to that simple statement.

      Report Post »  
  • grandmaof5
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:43am

    And the temples come falling down…God bless Mr. Guggenheim for his work. Having put 3 children thru the public school system in FL, I watched an unqualified teacher teach advanced algebra and had no idea what he was doing. He had the kids teach his class. It took two years to get him demoted. There are so many wonderful teachers in the public school system, and many who can’t get jobs, because the bad ones have the unions on their side and refuse to leave or be demoted. Another problem is promoting highly effective principals to administrative jobs rather than leave them where they are most needed. The whole system needs to be overhauled and the unions squeezed out. It is time to put the education of the children first and the unions dead last!

    Report Post »  
  • Flagwaver
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:42am

    Teachers get paid when they are on disciplinary leave, they get paid when they are sick, they get paid when they sit in class. So, if they get paid no matter what they do, what incentive is there for them to teach? Personally, we need to break the teacher’s union and place a student score based pay chart. If your students learn, then you get paid good; if your students don’t learn, then you get minimum wage.

    Report Post » Flagwaver  
    • beekeeper
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 12:35pm

      “…then you get paid WELL;”

      Let me guess, public school survivor? ;^)

      Report Post » beekeeper  
  • printdesignchicago.com
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:39am

    my child goes to Chicago Public Schools. The system is terrible. The education she receives from them is deplorable. There ARE a FEW teachers at her school who do make a supreme effort to be good teachers. Her Law teacher, for example… but if it weren’t for me doing extra things to prepare her for the REAL WORLD out there, she would come out of Chicago Public Schools with barely enough education to handle the drive-thru at McDeath.

    Overall, CPS is a disaster. It is an integral part of the Chicago Pooplitical Machine. What gets me is that the administrators of this school system don’t care and Ron Huberman (who proved he couldn’t run anything when he was in charge of the CTA (public transpo admin)), the idiot in charge was APPOINTED by HizRoyaleMayorness Daley and makes over 400K a YEAR. He’s not worth 40k.

    The pensions that the teacher’s unions have are what is really helping kill Illinois.

    UNIONS RUIN EVERYTHING THEY TOUCH.

    Report Post » printdesignchicago.com  
    • BoilitDown
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 10:07am

      I agree with Printdesignchicago. The Chicago political machine has devastated Illinois.
      I am tired of seeing Illinois at the top of the “worst-of” lists in most catagories. Education may be the most important segment to repair to help us out of our downward spiral.

      Report Post »  
    • beekeeper
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 12:29pm

      Hey, wait a minute – I thought Community Organizer Barrack Obama, along with some guy named Bill Ayres and a ton of money from the Annenberg Foundation fixed the Chicago school system, wasn’t that the highly-effective leadership and change that catapulted him to eventually be seated as a state senator, then US Senator, and then US President?

      If the schools in Chicagoland aren’t fixed, were we lied to? I feel I’ve been duped! ;^)

      Report Post » beekeeper  
    • seniorcitizen
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 1:56pm

      The public school system I was writing about in the later e-mail was the Chicago Public School System. First – what school is your child in if she has a law teacher – I assume a high school. Why isn’t she learning science, math, english, perhaps a foreign language, civics etc. I think they’ve introduced some many electives into the school year that kids no longer concentrate on the basics. I went to school in the late 40′s to 1960 and I think I got a very good education in the public school system of Chicago under Mayor Daley (obviously the current mayor’s father)

      Report Post »  
  • nothingbuthetruth
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:39am

    Hmmm…I dont know what to make of this. I wonder if they still are force feeding his movie to our kids in the public school system???

    Report Post »  
  • Sapper623
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:38am

    Simple question: How much does Randi Weingarten make a year as the union president?

    Report Post » Sapper623  
  • Marylou7
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:36am

    Every single parent and grandparent should see this film. Our schools are a disgrace and have been for at least 40 years, continually get worse every year. If at all possible get your children out of the hands of the progressives. Sure there are some good teachers, even some very excellent, but their hands are tied by the progressives in charge. What we need is to get our schools back into the hands of our local communities.

    Report Post » Marylou7  
  • Freelancer
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:36am

    One thing I have learned as of late…. When a union complains and tries to marginalize someone or a group of someones simply because they speak out, the union is desperately trying to hide the truth.

    Report Post » Freelancer  
  • Taquoshi
    Posted on September 24, 2010 at 8:32am

    Wow! In my little corner of the world, two weeks ago, the head of the union blasted the school board because it didn’t take some of the union “offers” (which apparently would have ended up costing the District even more money rather than “saving” money) and this past week, I guess someone read the union pres the riot act because he actually seemed to apologize. Currently, about 60% of our tax dollars goes to the District and people are more than a little annoyed.

    I can see the point of unions protecting those who have been unjustly accused (saw it this past Wednesday) but when they are protecting incompetent employees, it’s another matter.

    Taquoshi  
    • tepartyblog.info
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:07am

      In a world of minimum wage unions are useless. When the free market is restored eventually both will go away.

      Report Post » whamhost.info WORKS FROM HOME  
    • v.o.t.e.
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:36am

      i totally agree– hiring and firing should be done by independent firms– based on performance– unions serve a good purpose but the job security they provide is at conflict with the people’s interest— same is true of government unions– this has to stop— go christie and paladino–today the states –tomorrow the government unions— think how ridiculous it is to have a union working against taxpayers interest– it seems on the surface very illogical for us to accept– the union should NOT control hiring and firing and also they should be held to stricked budgets—- what has been going on is the belief by union leaders that “trees can grow to the sky”– the don’t and now we must clean up this mess

      Report Post »  
    • Fletch
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:52am

      As legendary New York teachers union leader Albert Shanker said, “When school children start paying union dues, that‘s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.”

      What is the purpose of teacher unions? To work for children? Establish new and better requirements? Push their members to better serve parents and children?

      “Despite what some among us would like to believe, it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children. And it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power. And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent them, the unions that can protect their rights and advance their interests as education employees”
      …National Education Association’s just-retired General Counsel Bob Chanin. . NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin Says Farewell:

      HERE

      All government unions should be banned. The idea that government workers need protection from guess who?? THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, is ridiculous. remember, teachers are government employees. Ban government unions.

      Look at Monroe County FL (The Keys)

      The comments are better than the stories:

      FL Keys School Scandals .

      Or see Payton Walcott’s Blog on school board corruption: http://www.peytonwolcott.com/

      Report Post » Fletch  
    • Fletch
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:54am

      President Kennedy’s Executive Order 10998, allowing Federal unions, is what opened the door for public sector unions at the state and local level, which is leading to bankruptcy from bloated public sector salaries, benefits, and retirement plans. Businesses that offered plans like many governments have would go bankrupt. Gov’t entities will, too, eventually, but it will be much more painful.

      This is why unions should again be outlawed for public employees.

      The practice of keeping bad teachers “dancing lemons,” revealing the sad practice of shuffling bad teachers around the system instead of firing merely because they may have tenure on the job. While new teachers are automatically laid off due to budget cuts, teachers that have a disciplinary problem or a troubled history are kept because they’ve been on the job longer. This is wrong and reflects badly on the union and teachers alike, not to mention that it leads to a bad education for our kids.
      What is the purpose of teacher unions? To work for children? Establish new and better requirements? Push their members to better serve parents and children?

      All government unions should be banned. The idea that government workers need protection from guess who?? THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, is ridiculous. remember, teachers are government employees. Ban government unions.

      Report Post » Fletch  
    • beekeeper
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 11:08am

      I live in NJ and work in public education (IT, not in the classroom), and I ran for the local school board a few years ago. I feel I understand both sides of the “teacher union debate”.

      Once upon a time, teachers felt they were victimized by principals and the administration that could fire teachers at will (seemingly), unions helped remedy that fear, but their protections have in the minds of many in the community have gone to far. I agree with the community and feel that the teachers now run the buildings, and the pricipals are forced to sit by and tolerate bad teachers rather than dedicate countless hours to attempt to get rid of a bad teacher.

      Once upon a time, teachers were poorly paid, earing less than similarly-educated professional earned, unions helped remedy that situation, demanding market-rate wages for teachers. In the minds of many in the community the compensation scale has been tipped to favor the teachers and over-compensate them. Starting teachers (those who, for example, just graduated from a teaching college with no experience beyond “student teaching”) earn $49K/year, and under my districts current contract realize 6-7% raises annually. I agree that the comensation levels are inflated and don’t reflect either short or long-term market realities.

      Once upon a time, teachers either had no pension or their pension was very minimal – unions helped resolve those wrongs and current teacher upon retirement earn a lifetime pension that is calculated by taking the number of years in the union, divided by 55, and then multiplied by the previous three-year average salary. It is not unusual for a teacher with over 18 years in teaching to be earning $90K/yr, and if a teacher with 35 years teaching were to retire, the calculation would be:

      35 / 55 * $90,000 = $57,272,72/yr pension

      That seems like a fair, non-pauper pension – in fact it seems a bit generous to many, especially those in the community that do not have pensions in their jobs who pay taxes to fund these pensions. I agree with the community, and think the remedy lies in the adjustment of the pay scale first, and if needed a reconsideration of the divisor of the calculation.

      Once upon a time teachers had poor healthcare coverage, but unions stepped in and adressed that so that now teachers enjoy (at least in my district, which is not special with regard to the scope of health care coverage for teachers) high-quality, low-co-pay health care coverage and (in my district) contribute a minimal amount towards the cost of their coverage. As healthcare costs have escalated and the community has experienced rising co-pay and employee contributions in their families, teachers have been blissfully immune in most cases, arguing that a cut in the scope of benefits or an increase in co-pay or contributions is in reality a pay cut. Teachers (at least in my district) negotiate healthcare benefits as a defined level of benefits ignoring cost. I agree with the community,a nd I am actively working with my school district to adjust their contract negotiations to handle healthcare benefits as a “benefits bank” where cost is negotiated on the basis of employer contribution levels, allowing the district to get a handle on the cost of healthcare coverage.

      Are these pressures hurting the students, I’m not sure – I believe that higher pay and benefits attract better teacher candidates, but simply paying teachers ever-increasing salaries and premium benefits doesn’t guarantee a better experience for the child in the classroom.

      Are Charter Schools the answer? Not sure, but they side-step a lot of the issues many community members have with the current situation and appeal to many. Charter schools offer a choice, and with that choice comes a certain amount of risk – parents choosing to enroll their children in a Charter School need to understand the risks and the possible benefits before deciding what is right for their child.

      Report Post » beekeeper  
    • Tracking
      Posted on September 24, 2010 at 5:57pm

      Appreciate the honesty.

      Report Post »  
    • PostProgressiveAmerican
      Posted on September 25, 2010 at 5:46am

      Thanks Beekeeper – appreciate the insight.

      Everyone like to focus in on the teachers because of the direct impact on their children and because the teachers always appear to be some of the first ‘sacrificial lambs’ placed on the tax-cut chopping block; teachers have become political pawns.

      The problem is really with unions – not necessarily the members, but the leaders. I agree that unions have aided in improving pay and benefits for teachers (and others), but things have gotten out of control and, to be honest, I do not believe union leaders act in the rank-and-file’s best interest. The time has come for Americans to rethink the whole concept of unions, pensions, etc.

      Pensions are a big problem. Pensions are a liability that must be paid to people who are no longer contributing to the system and, given the relatively young retirement age and the average life expectancy, the number of people getting the pensions increases over time until, eventually, there is no money left to pay the people still working; everyone loses. Without real reform and concessions, many people will lose their pensions altogether.

      America needs to shift back to individual responsibility and replace pensions with IRAs. Individuals would decide how much to contribute and when they can afford to retire. Contribution matching by employers should be encouraged as benefits; these are discrete events with no unfunded liabilities in the future and are, therefore, sustainable.

      I am also concerned about recent events at measuring teacher (and school) performance via standardized testing, especially when salaries and/or funding are tied to the test scores. What I have seen locally is that teachers and schools now ‘teach the test’ and real education has declined yet again.

      But parents are to blame, too. Many are uninvolved with the schools and do not take an active role in their own children’s education, viewing school as a babysitting service. Combine this with poor quality textbooks, shorter school days/years and a focus on liberalism and social justice and, well, what can you expect?

      My children have attended public schools in several states so I have seen as many different approaches to education. In one state, the educational content was so poor that we actually had to home school our kids at night (not the supplemental homework we always provide, but the basics). We did not stay in that state for very long.

      Personally, I have always preferred fixing the public schools over widespread charter schools, but my opinion has changed over the last few years since those in the public system (bureaucrats, teachers, administrators, union leaders and even some parents) do not want to make concessions to improve the system.

      We definitely have a problem, but I sure don’t have the answers.

      Report Post » Post-Progressive American  
1 2

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love