By Kristi Lacroix
Wisconsin teacher
KENOSHA, Wis. – I am reminded of a bully that was in my 7th grade class; she was a mean girl who could rip you apart with just a few, carefully chosen words.
I would watch other students cringe as she would throw insult after insult, waiting for the right jab that would “stick” on the victim and cut them to the bone. This is what we are seeing now in WI with the war the unions are waging against Governor Walker. First, we had the “Walker lied” attack; then, “the war on women”; third, “Job loss”; lastly, “the ‘John-Doe investigation.’” Of course, all of these were proven wrong and did not “stick” in the minds of us citizens who are not afraid to search out the truth. What is the new jab that the unions are throwing in hopes of convincing the public that our Gov. is evil? Well, it is now the comment that Walker made over a year ago while being interviewed: “We must divide and conquer.”
Unions, like the Wisconsin Education Association Council, are claiming that Walker wants to destroy the unions in WI and make it a right-to-work state. Although I wish this were true, Walker has stated numerous times that he has no desire to make WI union-free. It is my contention, however, that “divide and conquer” is exactly what we need to do to reform our schools.
Divide …
What is so evil about dividing? I divide things all the time, and it is often a necessity if I am trying to separate the good from the bad or make things even. I think that we should be dividing a lot of things in education. First, we need to divide the effective teachers from those that do not cut the mustard. If one spoiled apple spoils the bunch, then I would assume that one bad teacher can spoil a school; even worse, they can spoil a student’s education. As far as making things even in education, we need to divide the effective from the non-effective teachers to truly ensure that ALL students receive the education they deserve. I believe WEAC’s mantra is “Every child deserves a quality education.” How can we possibly make sure that every child has a quality education when we are not making sure that we weed out the quality educators from those that should not teach?
I say: DIVIDE AWAY!
… and Conquer
It goes without saying that I am not a staffer for Governor Walker, but if I were, I would tell him to stick with the “divide and conquer” comment. I would tell him that the best way to save our schools is to divide the unions from the taxpayers, the good teachers from the bad, and the learning from the non-learning. I would tell him that he must conquer the unions if my daughters are to have a fighting chance in life. I would tell him that the best leaders in battle have divided and conquered! Governor Walker may not yet be on board with WI becoming a right-to-work state, but I think his “divide and conquer” remark is right on point.
I say: CONQUER AWAY!
It goes without saying that I am not a staffer for Governor Walker, but if I were, I would tell him to stick with the “divide and conquer” comment. I would tell him that the best way to save our schools is to divide the unions from the taxpayers, the good teachers from the bad, and the learning from the non-learning. I would tell him that he must conquer the unions if my daughters are to have a fighting chance in life. I would tell him that the best leaders in battle have divided and conquered! Governor Walker may not yet be on board with WI becoming a right-to-work state, but I think his “divide and conquer” remark is right on point.
Kristi Lacroix is a high school English teacher and “forced WEAC fee payer” in Wisconsin’s Kenosha school district.
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