June 7, 2011

Teachers' union leader: "They're ready to do whatever it takes."/"It's going to get down and dirty."

John Matthews, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc., says:
School Board member Maya Cole criticized Matthews for harboring an "us against them" mentality at a time when the district needs more cooperation than ever to successfully educate students. "His behavior has become problematic," Cole said. "In his mind he is doing the right thing. But he doesn't see that in the political process, he's preventing good people from coming forward and running for office for the right reasons."

Board member Ed Hughes recently wrote on his blog that teachers unions "aren't all that necessary" because the district isn't "running a sweatshop." "It may be that John Matthews' ramped-up rhetoric is best understood not as a protest against school district over-reaching in bargaining, since that did not happen, but as a cry against the possibility of his own impending irrelevance," Hughes wrote.

16 comments:

test said...

Ed sounds like the man in the know.

"You just look for a D and put an X next to it."

This is the level of analysis and understanding most Democrats show.

Fred4Pres said...

The teachers' union is a corrupt and disgusting group. They have damaged this country terribly.

Waiting for Superman had it right. And that was made by a Democrat who made Al Gore's stupid global warming flick. Even he was disgusted with them. They are contemptable.

pauldar said...

I have to apologize to all teachers as I thought that they did indeed work in sweatshops the way that they have ranted over the past months. Egg on my face. Again

David said...

Next time they strike illegally, fire everyone who does not show up and replace them.

edutcher said...

This is why I worry about you guys.

KCFleming said...

"It's going to get down and dirty."

The subtle threats of violence are for the children.

Fen said...

"They're ready to do whatever it takes. It's going to get down and dirty."

translation:
time to pretend the other side isn't playing fair, so I can justify doing it too.

Liberalism. Its a mental defect.

KCFleming said...

"It's going to get down and dirty"

Or mebbe he meant he has some twitterpics of his underpants.

madAsHell said...

Here in Seattle, we just kicked the supervisor to the curb because she failed to oversee construction contracts. Contracts were awarded, paid, but never executed. Money for nothing.

Now, we find during the same administration, that the sold a surplus school property $2.5 million. The high bid was $9 million.

They actually have a law that allows them to consider factors other than price in determining the winning bid.

What. could. go. WRONG!!!

The school system is filled with community activist types. The system was tilted to award the property to the local African Methodist Episcopalian Church.

Of course, the church hasn't the resources to refurbish the building as promised in the bid. So, it sits there as an eye-sore waiting for my tax dollars.

Carol_Herman said...

Ah, but Wisconsin has a law ready to go, that will give its public employees the chance to vote if they want dues deducted, automatically. Or if this is something the union should bill.

SUMI is the one individual that's held this up.

For how long?

Prosser is not only still on the State's Supreme Court. His next term of 10 years length starts on August 1st.

Kloppenhoppen is like a local Nancy Pelosi poster child.

Later on, when the law that passed is "clarified," the teacher's union will have to deal with their members. Gone will be the "automatic deduction" withheld from paychecks.

No matter where you want to put the goal posts, the democraps are in trouble.

MadisonMan said...

The best comment I've seen likens Matthews to Favre, not knowing that he should have removed himself from the game many years ago.

Like when he was on the board of WPS insurance and was strong-arming the School Board into maintaining the very expensive WPS coverage for teachers.

I love my kids' teachers though. Therein lies my dilemma.

SteveR said...

If these folks actually cared about education you have to assume facts not in evidence.

Joanna said...

[In 1966], the union ratified its first collective bargaining agreement - a four-page document. Within 15 years the agreement grew to a 150-page booklet...

This is insane. Is this the norm? This is insane.

Sal said...

The second quoted paragraph is key. Unions, like obsolete industries and useless government agencies, only go kicking and screaming because their employees depend on those jobs.

What is John Matthews going to do if he loses that union job? Drive a school bus, maybe.

MadisonMan said...

Interesting news item out today given Matthews' press tantrum.

Link.

I think it's more an indictment into NCLB's ridiculous assumptions, but it still pinged my irony meter.

Chuck66 said...

Not union business, but my Dad used to get sent to Madison for meetings all the time.

He said most were a total waste of time and seemed to primarily be for teachers to get a couple of paid days off from school, get to go to Madison for 2 days and have all of their expenses covered. I've worked in corp offices and this happens out in the real world too.

So yes, the WEAC union heads have a sweet gig (we have seen their salaries posted on line) and may fear that the gravy train may be ending for them.