Teachers’
Union Expelled from School District
The trouble with education in this country starts and ends with
unions. They are out-of- touch museum relics, fitting for a day that used
rotary presses to distribute the news, but wildly inappropriate for an age
that‘s both wired and wireless.
Unions have prevented, and continue to prevent, much-needed
reforms in education, public finance and government. They cultivate a sense of entitlement
wholly out of order for the times, which call for more self-reliance and
entrepreneurship.
Frankly, unions suck.
Really.
They suck the money out of our wallets; they suck productivity out
of workers; and suck up all the leavings from the public trough.
Increasingly, the public has had it with the private country clubs
known as “public” unions.
So it should surprise no one that one county school district is
fed up. And they have finally decided to boot their left-leaning union and try
life and education in the 21st century.
The Douglas County School District, a suburban community south of
Denver, Colorado, has decided to part ways with their teachers’ union in the
absence of progress on a new contract which expired June 30th, 2012.
“The Board of Education finds and declares that the Collective
Bargaining Agreements between the District and the Unions,” said the district
on July 3rd in its formal resolution dissolving the bonds
between the union and the district, “which had been effective from July 1, 2011
through and including June 30, 2012, are now expired and of no legal effect
whatsoever.”
The dissolution between the district and the union is
unprecedented and sources close to the union tell me that unions are
pensively watching, worried that other districts around Colorado and the
country could take the same action as Douglas County has.
We can only hope.
The main issue between the district and the union was the union’s
insistence on being the sole bargaining agents for the teachers. The district,
in the interest of transparency, wanted other professional teacher associations
to be able to appear at the bargaining table.
“Exclusivity for a union with majority support is not a monopoly,
it is democracy,” said Brenda Smith, local head of the AFL-CIO affiliated
American Federation of Teachers according to Colorado Ed News. “It is order rather than chaos. It allows
employees to select their representative freely, without coercion from the
employer. It allows them to amplify their voice through collective action under
our constitutionally protected right to freedom of association.”
Could we get a little more Orwellian please, Ms. Smith?
From our friends at Colorado Peak Politics: “Let's get this straight -- allowing only one
organization to represent all teachers is democracy, but allowing teachers
multiple options for representation, including themselves, is a monopoly?
Please tell us Brenda Smith wasn't previously a civics teacher.”
But also at issue were years of venality, self-dealing and
conflicts of interest routinely engaged in by the union and the school
district.
In 2009 the district faced severe budget shortfalls, in part,
because previous union contracts were fudged in order to make it appear that
the pupil growth in the county was going to rise faster than could reasonably
expected.
For the union, it was a win at the time the contract was approved
because they could point to the out years of the contract while the union
president got the district to agree to pay a portion of what was believed to be
a six-figure union salary out of district funds, along with generous grants
from the district to other union workers.
What the heck? They could always raise taxes to make up for the
deception- which, of course, should have been known to the union at the time.
At the same time the administration was looking to try to increase
taxes to make up their phony numbers in the budget. They also tried to gain
approval to sell close to half a billion dollars in bonds to build new schools
for non-existent children. And- remember this is a government service that’s
“all about the kids”- they were awarding contracts to build new schools to a
sitting board member on the advice of the district’s attorney.
Unions win; administration wins; board member wins; taxpayers
lose; parents lose; teachers lose.
You know? The usual balanced equation when it comes to liberals
and unions.
As a result, taxpayers staged a revolt in 2009 in Douglas County
throwing out union-friendly board members and voting in a reform-minded slate
of candidates.
And reform they have.
The district has worked on merit pay, a voucher program, finance
transparency- along with making union negotiations open to the public. All of
these initiatives have been opposed by the union.
And so now the union has found that the ringing in their ears is
just the sound of a school bell ringing for the dismal.
That bell? It rings for
thee, Ms. Smith. And I told you so. Let’s hope that other school districts
start to do the same.
Source: Townhall Finance
Comments:
It’s that easy. Just elect
School Board members from the private sector, who are tired of failure and
corruption. School Boards can also opt
for vouchers and change text books and schedules. They can support home
schooling, end tenure and convert pensions into 401(k)s. They will need cooperation from their state
legislature and reform-minded Principals.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea
Party Leader
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