Teachers Union Prez Awarded For Protest That Put 7,500 Kids On The Street

My father was a teacher, so I know it can be an all-consuming profession, but it's one he chose. When I watch or hear some of today's teaching professionals whine about their rights and wages (while it's really all about the children), I could go off on a tangent that would be unprintable in this particular venue.

While making taxpayers the guilty party for not wanting to give some teachers the relaxed standards and increased pay and benefits they demand - again, while it's all really for the children - these teachers will take unauthorized leave from their jobs to protest and harass their intended target, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of children to fend for themselves for the daily duration. What's even worse, some organizers are even being publicly rewarded for coordinating the hookie-playing teachers' activist activities.

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"On Dec. 11, the Taylor School District closed because so many of its teachers skipped school to go to Lansing to protest right-to-work legislation. As a result, about 7,500 students in Taylor were forced to miss classes that day.

As Michigan Capitol Confidential reports:

"For organizing that 'sick out' protest, the American Federation of Teachers-Michigan gave Taylor teachers' union president Linda Moore an award for 'outstanding organizing.' "Public Act 112 in Michigan makes public school employees strikes and/or lockouts illegal."

An award for abandoning their students (outstanding organizing). Gimme a break. Besides the risk these selfish teachers subject every one of the students who may be unsupervised for the day(s) to, these protests usually end with the politicians, thus taxpayers, caving to their demands and they also receive compensation for the days they did not work. Let me take something partially back. In some cases, students are not unsupervised while their teachers protest. Some teachers actually exploit their students and have them join in on their protests. I may have a faulty memory when it comes to these matters, but I don't recall teachers taking to the streets when their students are lacking in school supplies. These teachers seem to take to the streets only when an issue directly affects them: when they aren't willing to sacrifice, aren't willing to to have their job performance more vigorously evaluated, and when they demand we pay more for their salaries despite the national trend of declining education results. And, let's not forget how ballistic they get when anyone threatens to give job-seekers the right to choose not to join a union and have dues confiscated. Very few of us can just decide to skip work whenever we want to protest our compensation. Certainly, the ringleader isn't exalted, but we are talking unions and government. Little wonder why many of our public schools continue to fail.