By Kyle Olson
EAGnews.org
MADISON, Wis. – EAGnews has produced a series of short interviews with Wisconsin teachers and school board members in an effort to tell their side of the story. Despite its appearances of unity, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the state’s largest teachers union, does not speak for everyone in education.
In the coming days, EAGnews will be releasing the web ads and they will be found on our Teachers Speak page.
Here, outspoken union critic Kristi Lacroix – herself a forced dues payer – describes the union racket she sees, going so far as to call teachers a “filtering system” of tax dollars into union coffers.
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Tags: #edgap, #edpolitics, #edreform, #edreformtribe, #education, #parentpower, #schoolchoice, #schools, #seniority, #teachers, @AFTunion, @govwalker, @kyleolson4, @NEAToday, @rweingarten, Act 10, AFT, American Federation of Teachers, collective bargaining, collective bargaining reform, EAG, EAGnews, Education Action Group, education reform, Gov. Scott Walker, National Education Association, NEA, Randi Weingarten, StudentsFirst, teachers union, WEAC, Wisconsin Education Association Council, Wisconsin teachers union
In the attempt to completely defund teacher unions or limit them one must think about what would replace them.
I teach in Idaho. We had an “education reform” last year under the guise of bringing “technology” into the classroom. Now we have no tenure or collective bargaining at all. What REALLY has changed is the attitude between teachers and district administration. When I started teaching here, the union & administration bargaining resembled a conversation and things worked out well for both districts and students. Now, the atmosphere is a take it or leave it feeling with everything being stacked in favor of the districts/administrations.
The “new” reform that everyone rubber-stamped, has mostly hurt the smaller rural districts. As they have limited funding anyway and are “required” (sub forced) to implement online courses into their already jammed courses, electives start to vanish. Prior to my start in the district, the high school had the funding to work an A/B 8 period block schedule, which a MAJORITY of the teachers were in favor of and worked very well. Students got to take everything they wanted including electives. IT WORKED. We now have a 7 period day, in which many students LOST an elective class and some have NO electives at all.
What’s the point of this discord? It seems as thogh we have discarded one dictator for another. Supposedly the union was running the show with no middle ground. Now, it has completely reversed. We must be careful in what we wish for and consider ALL of the possibilities.
mightyhorn
Oh, I see. Now that the unions are losing the upper hand everybody should play fair, right? There is another point of view also, “To the victor belong the spoils”.
So in other words you’re feeling as if you should be doing a good job at teaching in order to keep your job?
The school districts can no longer afford as many electives… gym classes… drivers’ ed (which used to be free)… music and sports – because they are spending far too much money paying fat pensions and lifetime benefits to people who retired at age 50 or 55 – like my neighbor, a former teacher who has a boat, airplane, Florida condo near Disney, and on and on. He’s been retired at least 15 years that I know of. I don’t know if I will ever be able to retire, but then, I’m not going to suck the taxpayers dry for my retirement either.
Ok you had my undivided attention to hear what you had to say …. But didn’t
In other words, she knows where the bodies are buried.
I am glad I live in Texas. Yes, we have our own budget issues with the state and state mandated issues. We have a choice to join an independent professional teacher organization ATPE, TCTA or the unions TSTA/NEA or TFT/AFT. The first 2 groups have the most members. In the independent groups it’s your choice to donate to a PAC not forced “donation” to the union picked candidate.
I love it when someone comes out and speaks the truth. Our tax dollars > public employees > union dues > election of favorable politicians. What a great scheme to use the system to benefit one side, one group, one party. This is part of why unions suck. And I am SO glad Scott Walker beat that attempt to recall him, despite the shenanigans I read about including the unions busing in out of state people to vote in the Wisconsin recall election. (Since there’s no voter ID to inconvenience them, I guess.)