Sounds like a busybody to me. A really buff busybody. Busybody'll knock you and your kid out.
Teacher's Union Sues Over Dropout Prevention.
Ok, the title definitely contains a little inflammatory bias, but it's hard to get around the gist of the article, which is this:
Texas State Teachers Association is suing some state educational agencies for incorporating non-profit organizations as part of dropout prevention, which they (TSTA) say constitutes the use of vouchers.
Already getting more complicated than necessary.
What I notice, though, is that a teacher's union is actually suing an organization for attempting to reduce dropout. If I could put it in typical heart-wrenching NEA radio ad diction, I'd say: "organization sues group for trying to help the children!" Then I'd write up a little script and pass it out to everyone I work with and tell them to call their congressperson and follow the script, even if they're unfamiliar with the issue, because we created this mess, not the children, and the children are our future, and that if they only increased funding, everything would be fine.
Alas, in this ironic twist, those of the "fully fund" movement are actually suing to stop the funding of an educational intervention program. Wow.
Reg Weaver, head of NEA, shared this gem with us in an NEA ad not too long ago:
"I'm Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association.
It's time to tell Congress what your priorities are.
Not more tax breaks for the rich, but Great Public Schools for Every Child. It's their basic right, and our responsibility.
Parents are being told that their schools and their children have failed.
But the Administration isn't offering resources to make schools better.
NEA is leading the fight for real school improvement.
Smaller classes.
Better trained teachers.
And, yes, more funding."
So NEA is leading the fight for "real school improvement," and here's TSTA getting all touchy because they think money is flowing to their sworn enemy, THE VOUCHER. Of course the debate seems to hinge on whether the non-profits receiving the cash actually constitutes a backdoor use of vouchers, as TSTA claims. But honestly, who cares when you have repeated acts of blatant hypocrisy from unions who say they care most about the children, and then throw their heaving mass around trying to squash any school reform that might threaten the union? (I admit, I am assuming something about teacher's unions here, but I cannot otherwise understand what I perceive to be a near-pathological anti-voucher platform).
If this union truly cared about their students, it would be throwing its resources into determining whether or not the programs in question actually help students succeed. Instead, TSTA sues people that are "just trying to help the children." Perhaps if someone would just tell the head of TSTA that the money is going "to help the children," the suit would be immediately dropped, no questions asked. Then TSTA members could get into cooperative groups and discuss strategies for constructing knowledge about why they don't like vouchers.
The title of the article makes the union look petty and pathetic. Sometimes a biased title is just what you need.
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