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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By Gary Jason
Two recent WSJ articles -- ironically, appearing on the same day -- remind
us anew of the complete cynicism and utter immorality of the teachers'
unions.
The first is about the vicious fight that the Louisiana Association of
Educators (LEA), one of the major rent-seeking rat-packs -- oh, pardon me, I
meant to say "teachers' unions" -- in the state. The LEA is outraged --
outraged! -- that Gov. Bobby Jindal was able to pass a school choice
initiative starting this year that creates a modest (5,600-student capacity)
voucher system for poor kids to attend private (including parochial)
schools. The LEA is pursuing a lawsuit in the state court system, asking
that the voucher plan be ruled unconstitutional for violating the separation
of church and state.
The courts have refused to delay the voucher system until the trial in
October. And since the issue has already been settled by the U.S. Supreme
Court -- no, a district giving a voucher directly to the parent, who then
chooses to use it at a religious school, does not constitute state support
of religion -- the LEA is getting nasty.
In fact, the LEA is now in full attack mode. Its lawyers faxed threatening
notices to 100 of the 119 schools in the voucher program, warning them that
their clients (the union thugs) intend to use "whatever means necessary" to
make the schools bar voucher students.
"By any means necessary" -- BAMN, as it is known to devotees of radical
causes -- is code language for confrontational action, including violence if
necessary.
The LEA will start by suing all 100 schools, many of them small private
schools catering to poor children. The LEA, flush with fat union dues, is
well-positioned to legally harass these schools, whose resources are limited.
You can see why the LEA is panicked: its members support failure in school
so long as it lines their pockets, and they know that the public is
beginning to realize that school choice is a necessary precondition to K-12
school reform.
And, brother, does Louisiana need school reform. Forty-four percent of its
public schools are given a D or F by its own grading system, and no doubt
that system has low standards to begin with.
The parents know this, which is why there were 10,300 applications for the
vouchers, with 84% of those students being from schools ranked D or F.
In fine, the LEA is using all the muscle it has to destroy the lives of
children, the vast majority of whom are minority children. This is
despicable.
Turning next to New York, there is the depressing news that the New York
teachers' unions (including one of the most powerful, the United Federation
of Teachers) are working diligently to shield members accused of sexual
crimes.
Specifically, nearly a hundred tenured teachers or other public school
employees have been charged by the Department of Education with various sex
crimes, including one teacher who had sex with a 13-year-old girl and an
assistant principal who asked a young girl if she would give him oral sex.
But while in private industry, perps would be summarily fired and face the
justice system (or else the business would be on the firing line), in New
York they just appear before a school investigation panel, an independent
law firm, or a local school superintendent. After that, the perp goes
before an arbitrator selected -- get this! -- by the teachers' union and the
school district jointly. The arbitrators, by the way, get paid $1,400 a
day. You don't have to be a public choice economist to realize that, to
please the unions, these arbitrators will likely be inclined to fine or
suspend the teachers rather than fire them.
For example, one perp who repeatedly hugged girls, including fondling one
poor girl's breasts, was suspended for six months. Another fine fellow was
only reprimanded for "inappropriate touching" of a number of young boys. A
third randy shaper of young minds, who repeatedly texted sex messages to
girls -- including asking one to perform a striptease for him -- was merely
suspended.
A New York state senator has introduced legislation to terminate the
arbitrators' "final say," but it is doubtful that the teachers' unions will
allow such a measure to pass. After all, in New York, the teachers' unions
virtually own the state legislature.
This is beyond despicable -- it is downright degenerate. Memo to the "
rationally ignorant" voters: these are your tax dollars at work, and the
system is destroying your children.
Philosopher Gary Jason is a senior editor of Liberty and the author of the
book Dangerous Thoughts (available through Amazon). |
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