By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

TRENTON, N.J. – Funny thing about teachers unions.

They’re more than happy to throw students under the bus when it comes to defending one of their own. For reference, just do a search on sexually perverted New York City teachers whose jobs have been spared due to union action on their behalf.

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But when the unions have something to lose, they’re quick to wave the banner of quality education for students.

The New Jersey Education Association has threatened legal action to try to prevent the state’s first two virtual charter schools from opening in the fall, according to a story published by NJSpotlight.com.

The union questions how the online charters would be held accountable for student attendance, hiring certified teachers and many other standards that pertain to traditional public schools. NJEA leaders seem terribly concerned that students who enroll in these schools may not receive the education they deserve.

“I’m not looking to start a fight, but somebody has to take a stand,” NJEA Executive Director Vince Giordano was quoted as saying.

Why?

State officials are charged with the responsibility of deciding whether they want to offer virtual charter schools as an option to families. They’re also charged with the responsibility of monitoring those schools to make sure they follow all applicable regulations.

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If the schools fail, it will be up to the state to close them or explain to voters why they remain open. This debate is between state officials and the people who elected them. It has nothing to do with the NJEA.

So why does the union want to deny these schools the chance to prove they can do the job properly? Here’s a clue: The virtual schools probably won’t hire union teachers, which means all sorts of things could go wrong for the NJEA.

The schools might prove quite popular, leading to the formation of more online schools that will steal many students from traditional union schools. As more students leave union schools, fewer union teachers will be needed. With fewer union teachers on the job, union dues revenue will fall.

So it’s clearly in the union’s financial interest to kill this threat before it leaves the ground. But instead of being honest about their real concern (money), union leaders are pretending to be worried about how the schools might underserve students.

Here’s another clue about the NJEA’s real agenda. It recently announced that it will work on an “aggressive campaign” to unionize teachers in every charter school in the state, regardless of how well they perform.

Only 11 of the state’s 80 charter schools are currently unionized.

Giordano himself admitted that the quality of the charter school has nothing to do with the unionization effort when he said, “Some do better than district schools, while others do a lot worse.”

So is some charters are doing quite well without a union presence, why are they targeted for unionization?

The answer, as always, is money. The more teachers that join the union, the more money the union makes.

NJEA leaders are completely focused on protecting their turf from competition and keeping the dues dollars flowing. Charter schools are acceptable if their teachers are dues-paying members. They are not acceptable otherwise, even if they provide their students with quality instruction.

The unions and their leaders are nothing more than parasites looking for the next opportunity to suck tax dollars from public schools. They try to pretend otherwise, but their self-serving motives are impossible to hide.