By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

COLUMBIA, Missouri – We have come to accept the fact that teachers unions are more than willing to use students (or former students) as pawns in their political games.

The students are usually willing participants, which is no surprise. These kids have spent years under the daily influence of union teachers, and they probably believe everything they say.

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When teachers say they are underpaid, some students will automatically demand raises for Mr. Jones or Ms. Johnson, regardless of the condition of the school budget. When teachers say they are treated badly, some students will automatically run to their defense.

Brainwashed individuals usually conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the brainwashing.

Take, for example, the opening paragraph of an opinion piece written by Beatriz Costa-Lima, a freshman at the University of Missouri and a recent graduate of a public high school:

The title of her piece, published by NWITimes.com, is “Young voices: I am proof that public education is not a failure.”

“It seems that across the country, public schools are being attacked and teachers are being vilified. Politicians champion aggressive reform that essentially dismantle public education in order to replace it with a privatized education systems.”

Never mind the grammatical errors in that paragraph, which may or may not be attributable to the writer’s public school education. The sentence could have been written by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. It’s union propaganda 101and was probably spoon-fed to the author by a favorite former teacher.

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But let’s assume, for argument sake, that Costa-Lima came up with her arguments on her own.

Costa-Loma attacks charter schools, pointing to studies that show they are really not academically superior (on the average) to public schools.  We are struggling to catch her point. Is Costa-Lima suggesting that because charters may be academically equal to traditional public schools, they should not be allowed to exist? Does she really believe that traditional public schools should have a monopoly over the public school market?

What about parental and student choice? If public schools are so great, charter schools would die on their own because nobody would choose to attend them. Yet thousands of students remain on waiting lists to get into these schools. Parents want the best possible educational experience for their children, and many have found that in charter schools. This is an individual question for individual families to answer on their own.

Would you deny families school choice? Even those stuck in impoverished neighborhoods and failing school districts? Of course school administrators and teachers unions want to keep kids trapped in geographic school districts, because they want to keep the state money attached to each student. But do you really agree with them, Ms. Costa-Lima?

The writer goes on to mention the “vilification of teachers,” claiming they are being portrayed as “money-hungry monsters” whose only goal is to fatten their salaries as much as possible.

Nobody is attacking individual teachers on this front. We’re attacking the unions. And if Ms. Costa-Lima were paying attention, she would realize that in districts across the nation, union labor costs often comprise 70-80 percent of the entire general fund budget. And in districts across the nation, local unions have consistently refused to make any type of concessions to help struggling schools balance their budgets and meet student needs.

That means, in district after district, classes are being cancelled and extracurricular activities are being eliminated so teachers can keep their automatic annual raises, reimbursement for unused sick days, free or low-cost health insurance and longevity bonuses. Defend that, Ms. Costa-Lima.

Finally, the writer attacks the concept of using student test scores to measure teacher effectiveness. Should we not measure how well teachers are doing their jobs? Should we ignore the fact that our students are continuing to fall behind their peers in other nations? Should we continue to issue blank checks to teachers, giving them tenure (guaranteed lifetime employment) whether they are effective or not?

Most public school teachers admit that there are plenty of bad apples within their ranks. Should we ignore that problem, Ms. Costa-Lima?

Public education is under scrutiny these days because it’s obviously not getting the job done for students across the nation.

Teachers unions are being attacked because they refuse to make any sacrifices to help schools survive and maintain quality programs. Individual teachers are only being questioned because they haven’t been held accountable, and their unions don’t want them to be judged by their skills and performance.

The public schools belong to the taxpayers, not the unions, Ms. Costa-Lima. And the taxpayers are demanding something more for their money, including school choice and teacher accountability. There’s nothing wrong with that, despite whatever your former teachers have been telling you.