Teachers unions have abandoned
our students by blocking reopening
Washington Examiner,
by
Editorial
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
7/17/2020 4:49:38 AM
Los Angeles County, the nation’s second-largest school district, announced this week that students will not be returning for in-person classes this fall and must instead continue to participate in the failed distance-learning experiment it initiated after the onset of COVID-19.
This decision was made not by the parents or the schools but by the teachers union, which has opposed all attempts to reopen the county’s schools.
United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents more than 35,000 teachers in the area, argued at first that the health of its members and the students they teach was the primary concern. How, they asked, would the schools be cleaned regularly
Reply 1 - Posted by:
HammerDax56 7/17/2020 5:55:37 AM (No. 481064)
Public sector unions are ruining our way of life. Look at the Floyd case! Cop written up 28 times. Union put him back on the street. It’s an old fashioned con game. Pay the union bosses for protection.
The teachers union had never sided with parents. It is very sad indeed. They want to stay home AND get paid.
46 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Rather Read 7/17/2020 6:12:00 AM (No. 481071)
They should not get paid then. No work, no pay. And the parents should get their tax money back
61 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
doctorfixit 7/17/2020 6:14:24 AM (No. 481075)
Not opening government schools is the best thing that could happen to America's children.
23 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
WhamDBambam 7/17/2020 6:22:31 AM (No. 481080)
"Teachers" or parasites?
18 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
globalwarmer 7/17/2020 6:38:53 AM (No. 481090)
There will be no teacher's pay, either, right? Better not be.
29 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Periwinkel 7/17/2020 6:54:23 AM (No. 481103)
This is all about defeating President Donald Trump's re-election. They are just being a little quieter about it this time instead of stomping around bellowing like nasty old cows.
38 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
planetgeo 7/17/2020 7:12:16 AM (No. 481117)
It's not just the teachers' unions, it's ALL public agencies. Except for the front line workers (police, fire, public works, etc.) it's like a long-term paid vacation. They're loving it and don't want it to stop. In fact, they're loving it so much, they're about to raise every tax they can think of to keep the gravy train rolling.
Time to derail that gravy train.
45 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
coyote 7/17/2020 7:13:15 AM (No. 481119)
Looks like it is time to start developing a private educational system.
26 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
jinx 7/17/2020 7:18:03 AM (No. 481123)
Teachers Unions are made up of a few teachers who make the rules. The ones left in the classroom and who are told they have to belong to the Union if they want job protection, are not asked for their opinion. They are just told what is going to happen after the fact. Don't blame the hard working teachers who are in the trenches every day for the stupid political Union. The teachers are actually having to work hard to teach remotely. They still have to make lesson plans, teach, grade papers, and give exams. Where are all of the new computers going to come from? Who is going to pay for the poor children to have WiFi in their homes? Who is going to make the kids work on math and history and English when they have a computer to play on? Politicians don't have a clue as to what goes on in school. They should stay out of it.
25 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 7/17/2020 7:34:13 AM (No. 481133)
What is the racial and political distribution of the teachers?
I can guess (from their behavior) but don't know. Anybody?
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Toby Ten Bears 7/17/2020 7:38:20 AM (No. 481138)
It's cute that some think Teachers Unions are about students... Good one!
24 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Saryden 7/17/2020 8:41:32 AM (No. 481192)
Being a retired public school teacher(Iowa & Illinois), I really like what #10 said. That fit my experience. I will add that I believe children need to interact with other children to widen their education... whether in school, church, or sports. Staying home day-after-day is not the answer.
19 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
24tea@Mag 7/17/2020 8:42:19 AM (No. 481194)
It’s all about hate of Trump and greed. Another leftist organization.
13 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
smak90 7/17/2020 8:42:35 AM (No. 481195)
In Texas I should expect a 75% reduction in my property tax if schools don't go back right? The schools' expenses should drop to nothing if school is out. When can we expect all the teachers and admin to be furloughed?
18 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Strike3 7/17/2020 8:42:45 AM (No. 481196)
The teachers' unions had better pray that Joe Biden is elected because the coronavirus has proven what we knew all along. "Unnecessary" is the nice description. "Harmful" is closer to the truth. We will now work harder than ever to get rid of the public school system.
Oh wait, these people don't pray, do they?
9 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 7/17/2020 8:43:45 AM (No. 481198)
Privatize it all.
10 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
janjan 7/17/2020 8:45:35 AM (No. 481202)
This may be a blessing. The longer they play this game the more parents will find other arrangements. They are forced into it. Home schooling, charter schools, etc. almost anything is better than government run public schools.
13 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 7/17/2020 8:55:25 AM (No. 481214)
Not that I expect it to happen, but salary distribution to teachers should cease immediately. If you don't show up to teach each school day--you will NOT get paid. What we taxpayers spend on schools should STOP yesterday! The only people connected to education who should get paid are 1. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and 2. any custodian associated with any school district. You know they show up every school day.
16 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 7/17/2020 9:17:28 AM (No. 481239)
FTA - " The demands include defunding the Los Angeles Police Department, implementing a federal “Medicare for All” program, enforcing several new wealth taxes, and placing a "moratorium" on all charter schools. Passing these policies, the union argued, is the only way to keep minority students truly safe."
So, it is all about blm and tax the rich. Some union these UTLA teachers are. Fire and replace them.
10 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Bassman1911 7/17/2020 9:23:48 AM (No. 481247)
Teachers and their union have already ruined two generations of young people and now they don’t even want teach at all. Stop paying your school taxes. Stop paying these whining, sniveling, lazy reprobates. Their not educating, their indoctrinating.
11 people like this.
Bingo #6. The left wants to keep things shut down until after the election. The main goal is not to "protect" anyone but to get Trump out of office. I have believed that from the get-go.
11 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
JimJr 7/17/2020 10:39:42 AM (No. 481353)
What should happen:
1. Schools will receive a "top-to-bottom" deep cleaning starting on August 10.
2. Teachers and other staff will begin pre-opening preparation starting on August 24.
3. The first day of school will be September 1.
4. Any employee absent without a *VALID* excuse will have their employment terminated.
10 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Robert Jones 7/17/2020 11:03:16 AM (No. 481395)
That’s only in public school. Private school teachers are planning to show up. Need any more reasons why public schools are failing?
11 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
rochow 7/17/2020 11:08:57 AM (No. 481406)
The only thing they care about is their pension and how to get more!
6 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
Right Time 7/17/2020 11:13:51 AM (No. 481424)
First of all, most of the Teacher Union's demands require major changes to CA state and federal laws, over which the School District has absolutely no authority, and, as teachers, they should know this fundamental constitutional and civics fact to even be qualified to teach in the public schools of California.
Second, most of the Teacher Unions demands require major changes to CA state and federal laws that the School District clearly cannot change. As such, these demands have been made in Bad Faith, and the Union is in violation of its contract. Any job action is not justified or legal.
Return to work, or Be Terminated For Cause
10 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 7/17/2020 11:19:10 AM (No. 481436)
Unions should have no say in the matter.
8 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Arby 7/17/2020 11:36:07 AM (No. 481461)
Just a small reminder that teachers' unions represent teachers, not students (and they are explicit about that). They are large funders of the democrats and the democrats support public schools over private schools and public charter schools to protect the teachers' unions and their (sometimes completely incompetent) dues payers. Their activities (principally to protect incompetent teachers and dredge up mountains of dues with which to overpay themselves and support their democrat protectors) are not in the best interest of students, parents, education or America. Education is the key to personal growth and social mobility. It is foundational. It is of little interest to the teachers' unions and it is of little interest to the democrats, who take the minority vote for granted and feel free to bludgeon the charter school movement and school choice in general. Minority voters: come out of the darkness and into the republican light. We support school choice, big time.
10 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
Arby 7/17/2020 11:38:07 AM (No. 481462)
P.S. Read Thomas Sowell's new book on charter schools and those who oppose them. Charter schools work and they help minority students; the teachers' unions and the democrats oppose them. DeBlasio hates them and is exercising a systematic vendetta against them.
8 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
NotaBene 7/17/2020 11:51:34 AM (No. 481481)
Teachers of California, the furloughs are coming, the furloughs are coming!
The state is going bankrupt because very few have been working the past 4 months. Thank Nancy Pelosi´s Nephew for the generalized lazyness.
3 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
Trapper 7/17/2020 12:11:38 PM (No. 481498)
Teachers unions represent teachers, and some of their members are over 60, some have heart disease, some have asthma, some have various other medical issues that put them at real risk if they get the Chinavirus. They are not doctors or nurses or EMT's. Teachers did not sign up to risk their lives for your children. They signed up to teach them. That's all. And it is up to school districts to provide a safe work environment for them to do it in.
Now, that decision will vary from place to place. The decision as to reopening will be different in Wyoming than it is in New York. It will be different in Binghamton than it is in Manhattan. It is a local issue to be decided by local school boards, and the feds, including De Vos and President Trump (yes, I voted for him and will again) should stay out of it. It is none of the federal government's business. Unless Congress decides it wants to do something constructive on education, then they can pass a bill abolishing the Department of Education.
2 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
DVC 7/17/2020 12:21:04 PM (No. 481509)
Years ago, a teacher's union representative was criticized for taking actions which were advantageous for the teachers but very harmful to children getting education. IIRC, it was continuing a strike for a long period, keeping kids out of classes.
He was asked by a reporter in more sane times, "When will you start making the interests of the students one of your priorities?" and in an unguarded moment, the union leader replied honestly, "When they start paying union dues."
Teacher's unions care ONLY about teachers, nothing whatsoever about students. Hard fact.
8 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
Kafka2 7/17/2020 12:51:53 PM (No. 481541)
The teachers unions have only been interested in self perpetuation. They do this in two ways. Work to elect and re-elect politicians that will give them what they demand. And, demand ever greater pay increases and contracts that make it nearly impossible to get rid of bad teachers. The pay and protection is most attractive to the bad teachers who support the union officials keeping them employed. Pretty soon you have ever more bad teachers beholden to the union, that is beholden to the politicians. that is beholden to teachers working to get them re-elected.
The students, parents, and taxpayers lose.
6 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Smart11344 7/17/2020 1:11:53 PM (No. 481573)
Public schools have been going down hill since the mid 60's. When students are able to dictate how a school is run, you know we are in deep doo-doo. I graduated from high school. We had good teachers good administrators and students knew who was in charge. I graduated in 1962.
4 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
Timber Queen 7/17/2020 1:21:37 PM (No. 481581)
#31 - I agree with your second paragraph, but your first point is over reaching. Those teachers over 60 and/or with major health challenges are not the majority of teachers. To close down schools to "protect" a minority of teachers is not sound policy. Those adversely affected should be reassigned to duties outside the classroom. Perhaps giving support to the "front line" teachers by grading their tests for them and other "side work".
Our schools need to reopen. If LA teachers union does not want that, then perhaps the people of LA can form their own co-op neighborhood schools modeled after the prairie schools started by our pioneer ancestors. Those seemed to work out well.
6 people like this.
When volunteering in PTA groups, I realized that only about 10% of teachers had a passion for teaching, and put the needs of the students ahead of everything. Most teachers were self-serving. They put 200 kids in a lunch room forcing them to eat in silence so they could sit in the break room while one adult monitored the kids.
3 people like this.
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