A failing grade for AFT’s Ms. Weingarten!

Thank God, there are media outlets counterbalancing the hypocrisy of the Left. Ms. Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), planted an op-ed in the Monday, April 25, 2011 ‘Wall Street Journal,’ attempting to sell more snake oil to the uneducated. She earns a failing grade for her attempt to support the status quo at the expense of the education of students entrusted to her.

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In offering fair disclosure, I attended parochial grade school and high school, and I have siblings who attended both public and/or parochial grade school and high school. I have friends who are underpaid and overworked within public school systems. Ms. Weingarten purports that unions encourage risk-taking and innovation - oh, if that were only true! She is also selective in her use of studies that support her positions, while failing to acknowledge studies that are less supportive. At best, she earns an ‘Incomplete’ when citing studies on the benefits of competing forms of education. As Mr. Jason Riley so ably wrote in his March 26th WSJ column, obstruction is the key attribute of the AFT, NEA and their state and local affiliates, especially against those most in need of reform and without a voice to speak for them. Could it be that the results of many charter schools studies have been tainted by a lack of cooperation, even outright opposition from the AFT, NEA and related organizations that stand to lose money when students flee their systems? Ms. Weingarten bristles on issues of charter schools, merit pay and retention of teachers based upon quality, not length of time within the union. Japan dragged Detroit into manufacturing cars worth buying, so why not encourage competition to drive innovation and improved student learning within K-12? Why should teachers be exempt from the market forces that reward excellence and innovation? Union protected teacher positions and irresponsibility to students and their parents appears to parallel the incumbency and the irresponsibility of many elected politicians towards the American electorate. Has anyone been able to obtain Ms. Weingarten’s views on the McKinley Elementary school saga in Compton, CA? How does Ms. Weingarten justify the shenanigans occurring behind closed doors at all levels of government and the unions, including Governor Brown’s office, the State Superintendent of Schools of CA, and CA State Assemblywoman, Julia Brownlee? Don’t these children merit the great education every single child deserves as Ms. Weingarten professed in Mr. Riley’s column? How does the President of the AFT defend the union’s active support of non-education issues, including abortion rights and single-payer in health-care? How does she rationalize the AFT’s almost unwavering support of the Democratic Party, regardless of the political, social and religious views of many within her organization? Doesn’t she realize that the union positions regarding appropriate education curriculums and social issues drives many parents to question what is being taught within the classroom and to seek solutions away from her sphere of power? If circumstances were reversed, basing retention of teachers on effectiveness within the classroom, and pro-life and private health-care positions were championed with her tax money, would she be as satisfied with that situation as she is with the status quo? Ms. Weingarten, until your leadership fosters an educational system that champions the education of students over your union agenda, your snake oil flimflammery fails to earn a passing grade on any curve!