Back in the summer, which seems like years ago after the second week of school, I heard Ed Schultz speaking with Randi Weingarten on his radio show and felt terribly discouraged that guys like him never seemed to know what's really going on. He was treating Weingarten like she was Caeser Chavez, a true champion of the people when in fact her reputation as a sell out and collaborator with the "reform" class is well documented.
Fast Forward to 4 days of Chicago Teachers walking the picket line and standing up to Rahmbo Emanuel another lapdog of the billionaire "reformer" crowd as he tries to cram his lameass, racist, elitist agenda down the throats of Chicago's Teachers, parents and students. On Thursday I was able to catch Big Eddie signing off and here is what I heard : It's about people thinking they are going to make a buck off every kid in a public school. It's all about privatization and charter schools and the best way to make them happen is to GET RID OF THE TEACHER'S UNIONS.
I was holding my line in the afternoon traffic on the 290 headed towards downtown but when the skies opened and I heard that 300 pound redheaded angel sing I was tempted to veer towards Niagara Falls and bet everything I could scrape together at the casino. It felt like a lucky day. A national voice of both radio and TV, one who has the clout we need to expose the misdeeds of the "reformer" class , their shoddy educational products, their condescending and outrageously unqualified self insertion into an equation they know nothing about, their drooling greed all got up like a hooker for Sunday services in the guise of deep concern for the welfare of "the children." We have now at least ONE talking head who has the correct script in front of him. And until our courageous and dedicated brothers and sisters of CTU said Enough is Enough, we had nobody.
Thank you Karen Lewis, thank you Michelle Strater Gunderson for your front line reportage on Facebook, thank you Chicago Parents for your understanding and your sacrifice because you get it and you know this is for your kids. It's been a while since I felt proud of this profession because we've been on the defensive while the Broads, the Gates and Rhees and Emanuels have had things their way. But their billions and their slimy Democrat co conspirators couldn't undermine the message of this job action. "Ed Reform" is neither in its current state. It's a mask behind which the well connected and the well moneyed seek to make a profit off education while pretending they care about the kids whose education they want to outsource to a bunch who employ poorly trained, overworked and incompetent zombies who do what they're told because they fear getting fired all for the sake of making another buck.
Yes, thank you CTU. I hope the teachers in Buffalo realize that the CTU is waging the same battle that we SHOULD be waging here. Same issues. Pay close attention to the content of their new contract. I hear the teachers in Buffalo are also in need of a new contract!
ReplyDeleteMouse I sometimes fear what the teachers in Buffalo think, especially when someone tells me a union rep asked who Rahm Emanuel is and I hear someone bitching about my class using the computer lab especially when they were scheduled for it and the colleague read the grid wrong. People really need to get their heads out of their petty Soccer mom asses and get real the way they did in Chicago. I think Phil has every bit the stones of Karen Lewis probably more as he has like 25 times the experience but we really need to shake some of the pedestrians out of their snow globes. I was the only one to wear red all week last week, twice with this farking complexion I did it too. But that's just me....
ReplyDeleteTeachers sure need to wake up and get their own education right.
ReplyDeleteToo many haven't been paying attention and don't know who Rahm, Klein, Murdoch, Rhee, Gates, Broad, etc. are, much less what they've been up to. Perhaps it's because of multiple sources of corporate brainwashing, sticks and carrots...but Chicago is just the beginning of the only REAL test that matters.
Well said Sean. Thanks to the Chicago teachers for their courage and solidarity. I hope they know behind the red shirts and messages of support sent their way, there are many in their corner. CTU is on the front lines of this battle, but we are all in it. The best way to thank the CTU is to keep the real issues they have been fighting for in focus. Make sure people know this is a fight against the "reform" agenda that will destroy public education. Mainstream media (esp. the locals) will never tell the real story. They'll continue to give Cuomo, King, Campos etc. a pass. We have to take back the conversation. Thanks Sean for your blog and links to other great sites. I am trying to find every opportunity to talk to people about the efforts to undermine public education in the name of reform - at home, work, neighborhood, parks, hockey rinks, baseball fields. My children went to school this week wearing red and announcing their support for Chicago teachers and all union public school teachers. Then my nine year old woke my husband this morning to tell him the good news out of Wisconsin. Small actions I know, but made my union heart smile.
ReplyDeleteKaren
Anon - I totally agree Chicago is the first battle in a loooong war ahead but I like the way they fired a shot across the bow of these scumbags. The rheeformers have had it their way for far too long and now it's up to us to point out that their cures for what ails public ed are all snakeoil and their claims to care about kids are nothing but a smokescreen for their greed. It also needs to be noted that all of these high rolling "reformers" are also Dumbocrats who have completely abandoned labor, workers and teachers and do not deserve our vote.
ReplyDeleteKaren I am very happy you made it through I wonder if there's a browser issue or something of that sort. I will look into it and see what I can find out, I love your union kids. Ed Schultz on KB1520 from noon til 3:00 finally gets it and that's a huge gold star for our paper. I saw him getting after tweety Matthews on MSNBC. Matthews is completely bamboozled by the Rhee and her coterie and equally antagonistic towards us and our unions. I am relieved to hear Eddie is getting the message and he has it dead on too.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that more unions would make some noise this week supporting the Chicago teachers.One day should have been "RED FLU DAY"...when teachers across the country took a sick day off. It could have been publicized in advance so parents would have made arrangements for their children.
ReplyDeleteToday I read that the NEA never mentioned the strike on their homepage. What kind of support is that?
It is really pitiful that some teachers don't have any idea what is going on in the privatizing of our schools...It is difficult to consider them "professionals" when they don't attempt to keep up with what is going on. Worse still, they provide fodder for the deformers to chomp on.
You are doing a great job here ,Sean ...a real "PRO". Thanks.
Peg I still think coast to coast red flu is an option down the road. A lot of countries organize national union strikes. Spain had its miners in the streets a few weeks back and I recall one Tour de France that had to rethink its race route when French farmers brought their tractors into the mix. It was said at the time that the government feared the workers not the other way around. This is the paradigm we need to establish here for the good of everyone. If some of these union hating dopes could get a taste of a decent union wage and some benefits instead of the back of their corporate master's hand we'd all be better off.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though the reformers think that an educated population is too hard to handle, so in order to get what they want ( $ $ $ $ $ ) "test takers" are better than "thinkers" and "do-ers".
ReplyDeleteYou referred to Karen as a $65,000 a year Chemistry teacher...They referred to her as a 300 lb. union shyster... how cool is that....coming from rich politicians who can't stand the fact that a savvy woman would have the balls to stand up to them and" Rhambo and company". (... while theirs are in a jar on her desk. :) )