I received this message from SPARTY this morning-
Has news of the situation in Wisconsin reached paradise yet? A very angry L.N. called last night and left a message on our answering machine - we were in Lansing till late. I googled the Wisconsin State Journal this morning to see what has pissed her off so and discovered among other things that the 2600-strong teachers' union closed the Madison schools today with a blue flu. This follows a crowd of 12,000 packing the the capitol grounds yesterday. When you get a chance see what this Republican governor is up to - this is the same guy who refused the federal bullet-train money.
Here was my answer: (Other Birchies are welcome to chime in.)
My sis called me last night to talk about the Wisconsin thing. She wants to head for Madison today but is no longer able to drive that far and so wants one of the local unions to send a bus. After her call, I watched MSNBC for a couple of hours and got caught up in it. I cannot believe that all this is happening. It ruins my concept of the America I once knew.
While we're clamoring for better teachers and improved education, we want to slash the school budgets, lay off teachers, cut off their bargaining rights, cut their pensions and benefits, and blame them for all the ills of the system. What a load of shit this all is.
Yesterday, Governor Boychild of Florida turned down the fast train offer from Washington.
6 comments:
Gov. Snyder here in Michigan has proposed slashing the payment to local school districts by $470 PER STUDENT! He also has proposed taxing private and public pensions and slashing IN HALF revenue sharing to the cities. I hope that the Wisconsin protest triggers similuar activity in the other 12 states considering like cuts. I'll show up and know at less five who will acommpany me. Imagine if every union member would show up with at less 5 friends. WOW!!! I know there are some out there with connections to make it happen. The eight Democratic legislators in Wisconsin have set a further example and bought time for many others to show their support. Come on let's show our support.
It's only going to get worse.
Alice;
You ought to see the vile right wing e-mails I get about teachers working only 9months a year and being severly overpaid.
Hey, JoAnn taught , as well as my daughter, and you, Bud and Pat.
Wish I could document the times I recorded grades for my wife, made up weekly newsletters for her on our computer, printed them at our own expense, and never asked for anything in return.
John
Teachers "work" 9 months a year and then get laid-off every summer - and I don't recall ever getting sub pay or unemployment comp for those summers, nor did I receive over-time for the Sundays I spent grading essays. The basic problem teachers face is they "work" for the public.
For some interesting little told details about the Walker proposals in Wisconsin check out thomhartmann.com and click on live blog. It tells about propsals to privatize public utilites and also has a post from about a recorded conversation with Walker. Also Monday night Rachel Maddow had a tremendous presentation about Walkers trial run at this same thing when he was administrator of Milwaukee County.
Why do Republicans seem to hate working people ??
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