The title is from the WSJ, it talks about teachers in NYC who have been rejected by all the schools they applied to after being moved out of their job, for whatever reasons. They are in the Absent Teacher Reserve, what a euphemism! NYC spends $150 million, $150,000,000, a year for those 850 teachers to not work because no one will hire them (2016-17 school year data).
The two school unions spent tens of millions dollars in the last presidential election, over 90% to democrats. Let me think about this. Politicians set salaries and other funding, the teachers then spend money on those politicians’ elections. Sounds just great. I think that all politicians should solicit funds from those companies they regulate. NO WAIT! That is a conflict of interests, the democrats say. No kidding!
A solution. Teacher unions are forbidden by law to contribute to political campaigns. Public corporations are now allowed to contribute to political campaigns and the left has gone nuts saying how this will destroy democracy. They have just been allowed to do what unions, both public and private, have always been allowed to do. The difference in my mind is our tax dollars fund the teacher unions through tax funded wages. USSteel, among others, just got Trump to impose duties on metals. Lobbying is part of our system, but that money didn’t come from my tax dollars.
This same logic applies the the unions for government employees. No political campaign funding. Or, it must be fifty-fifty.
Alabama has failing schools, just like all states, especially blue states. Yet, the union has spend tens of millions of dollars resisting charter schools. NUTS! STUPID! If a public school is failing, close it, put it our for bid to an accredited charter organization and then reopen in the same building next school year. Then when a teacher is lousy, fire them! Look what it took to fire VA officials who have been caught in negligence, yet the union forced the VA to rehire.
Our kids are the future. Yet, we have been falling down the scale of competency when compared to our economic competitors for three decades. Our current system has to change. The power lies with those refusing to admit failure in results, at the expense of our kids.