Let the Teachers do Their Own Dirty Work

Taxpayer dollars should not be used to do the dirty work for teachers. If teachers want to be a part of a union, let them write their own damned check. Teachers' unions do nothing to improve the quality of education in any school. It is time to get unions out of all public schools.

Quote of the Day - "When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children." - Albert Shanker, Former President of the American Federation of Teachers

Today's picture came from StandUpforAmerica.com.

The following piece appeared on Reading Eagle.com.


Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.


Teachers, unions focus of message at Patriots' meeting
By Mary E. Young
Reading Eagle
Originally Published: 1/21/2011


School districts should be stopped from spending taxpayer money to collect dues for unions, a member of the Pennsbury School District in Bucks County told about 200 people Thursday night at the monthly meeting of the Berks County Patriots.

Simon Campbell, who also is president of the advocacy group Stop Teacher Strikes, said that in addition to a law banning teacher strikes, a law is needed to make Pennsylvania a right-to-work state in which unions would not be able to force teachers to join.

If teachers want to join, they should be willing to write a monthly check to the union themselves, he told the audience at Leesport Farmers Market in Ontelaunee Township.

Until Pennsylvania becomes a right-to-work state, school districts, county commissioners and township supervisors have the ability to negotiate the collection of union dues via payroll deduction out of union contracts, Campbell said.

Pennsbury School District did it, he said.

The teachers union is a political organization, not an educational one, Campbell said.

"Go after their money, because that's where their power comes from," he said.



The unions are not serving the public when they throw children out of school so they can strike for salaries and benefits that no one in any other profession gets, he said.

Ana Puig, co-chairwoman of the Kitchen Table Patriots in Bucks County, talked about the similarities she sees between the Obama administration and the Marxists who have taken over several Latin American countries under the guise of democratic elections.

Among those similarities are the introduction to the masses of a progressive candidate as a messiah who is going to eliminate the evil capitalist system, adoration of the candidate by the media, voter fraud and turning political opposition into demons, she said.

To change things, Republicans must reform their party and go back to its conservative values, said Puig, who was born and raised in Brazil but immigrated legally to the U.S.

"We must again constrain the federal government to its proper limited role in the Constitution, and return the power to the states and the people," she said. "We must not lose focus. The grass-roots movement is real. We have what it takes to free ourselves from the tyranny."

Also speaking were the six candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the March 15 special election to fill the 11th Senatorial District seat that became vacant with the Dec. 27 death of state Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, a Reading Democrat.

The Berks GOP executive committee plans to make a final choice Saturday.

The candidates are Register of Wills Larry Medaglia; former Sheriff Barry J. Jozwiak; Kenneth A. Smith, a financial adviser and Exeter Township supervisor; James M. Smith, a Richmond Township attorney; Michael Rivera, an assistant vice president at the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry; and Dr. George Chovanes, a Hereford Township neurosurgeon.

Contact Mary Young: 610-478-6292 or myoung@readingeagle.com.

The Death of our Republic

This sign is so true, ditto to the far too numerous entitlement programs and government agencies.
Actions started over 100 years ago put America on this path. Obama et, al., aided by apathetic and ignorant Americans are just putting the final stake in America's heart.



"When the people find they can vote themselves money from the treasury, that will herald the end of the republic." - Benjamin Franklin

Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.

Miss America was Homeschooled

The following piece appeared on Belief Net.com, congratulations Ms. Scanlan and good luck with your future.

I certainly hope she is a vocal supporter of homeschooling freedom.

Quote of the Day - For thousands of years, in thousands of places, families educated their own. This tradition changed not because a better method was found but because economic conditions required it. To work one had to lreave one's children; one's children, furthermore, had to be trained for tasks no-one in their purview could be seen doing. For these reasons institutionalised schooling was invented' and while it adequately addressed a set of economic problems it inspired a new set of human ones that are psychological, emotional, and even spiritual in nature. - David Guterson 'Family Matters - Why Homeschooling Makes Sense'

Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.


Teresa Scanlan Miss America 2011
Sunday January 16, 2011

Miss Nebraska Crowned Miss America 2011 - Teresa Scanlan, only 17 years, becomes Miss America 2011.


After being homeschooled through her junior year, this young lady has become the youngest Miss America ever. Teresa Scanlan is a Christian an hopes to inspire good morals and honesty in her future career. She hopes to attend law school, become a judge and eventually a politician, according to the Miss America website.



She had this to say from her blog, "After being crowned Miss Nebraska 2010 in June and becoming the youngest woman to wear the Miss Nebraska crown, she deferred enrollment to Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, where she is now set to attend in the Fall of 2011. She plans on majoring in Government: American Politics and Policy and then attending Law School to become a Trial Attorney in Criminal Prosecution. Hoping to become a judge and eventually become involved in the political arena, her highest career goals are to become President or a Supreme Court Justice. As a Christian in the political arena, she hopes to break down the stereotype of crooked and dishonest politicians, operating instead under character and integrity."

Congratulations to Teresa Scanlan Miss America 2011. May she wear the crown well!


Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2011/01/teresa-scanlan-miss-america-2011.html#ixzz1BEMCeOoI

Real Solutions

Anyone who is paying attention knows that public schools are a major part of the problem in America and not the solution.

The following piece appeared on WallStreetPit.com.

Quote of the Day - The real solution is to close schools, fire teachers, eliminate federal student aid, reorient most college students toward trade schools, and let the Internet deliver open courseware for free to anyone with a modicum of curiosity." Anthony Alfidi

Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.


Giant Step Backwards Looms for Education
By Anthony Alfidi Jan 16, 2011, 12:16 AM|Author's Website

Here’s further proof that mainstream journalism is incapable of performing even halfway decent analysis of national problems. The Associated Press eagerly awaits education “reform” that will turn back the clock:

American parents, teachers and students would be left laboring under a burdensome set of testing guidelines and other rules that many agree are pushing standards lower instead of bringing them up.

Ahem, firm standards are precisely what’s always been missing from American secondary education. The opposition of teachers’ unions to standards held back progress for decades until No Child Left Behind became law.





Banalities in this article abound. Focusing on “teacher performance” is impossible without the so-called onerous standards the article deplores. “Boosting college graduation rates” is just as meaningless. American colleges now graduate more bachelor’s candidates than ever before in history and yet the ROI of a college degree is nearing zero thanks to federally-encouraged student debt.

Our country’s educational system needs a reset. On that score, I agree with the critics of No Child Left Behind. Unfortunately the educational establishment wants more of the same: more money, more teachers, more student loans. All of that will lead to more failure. The real solution is to close schools, fire teachers, eliminate federal student aid, reorient most college students toward trade schools, and let the Internet deliver open courseware for free to anyone with a modicum of curiosity.

What is Wrong with the Truth?

After reading a local newspaper I felt the need to write a letter to the editor. If you know Jim and I, it is something we have done for 8 years now. It never surprises us to see our Letters edited by the editors. But this last time when I wrote a letter to the editor they asked me to change it. I declined to change the letter but Granite Grok agreed to post the letter in full on their website.

The editor did not like the second to last paragraph. When reading the letter to the editor do your own research on this "person," you will indeed understand why I refused to take out the second to last paragraph in my Letter to the Editor.


The following piece appeared on GraniteGrok.com. To view the whole piece visit GraniteGrok.com.



“The first duty of a newspaper is to be accurate. If it be accurate, it follows that it is fair.” Herbert Bayard Swope

"Abortion is inherently different from other medical procedures because no other procedure involves the purposeful termination of a potential life.” Potter Stewart American Judge and associate justice of the US Supreme Court (1958-81



Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.

Cow Manure

Madigan is just saying what people want to hear. If he really wanted to take on the teachers unions he would call for real reforms. Such reforms could include but would not be limited to the following propose a no strike law, eliminate tenure, revise collective bargaining laws, propose a school choice bill, propose a bill to ban forced dues and end state subsidies to the TRS.



The following piece appeared on MyFoxChicago.com.

Quote of the Day - "In keeping Americans ill-educated, ill-informed and constitutionally ignorant, the education establishment has been the politician's major and most faithful partner. It is in this sense that American education can be deemed a success." - Walter Williams, Professor of Economics, George Mason University (2005)


Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.


Mike Madigan Suggests Taking on Teachers Unions
Updated: Thursday, 13 Jan 2011, 9:33 AM CST
Published : Thursday, 13 Jan 2011, 9:33 AM CST
FOX Chicago News

Chicago - The turmoil over the Illinois tax hike almost obscured another bombshell out of Springfield this week. On the topic of public education, House Speaker Mike Madigan sounded like he was ready to take on teacher unions.

"We have more to do in the area of education. We have to work to provide for a better performance by the educational system in general and by the teachers that work inside of that educational system. And clearly the time has come once and for all to change the Illinois law so that incompetent teachers can be taken out of the classroom," Madigan said on the floor.



The President of the Chicago Teachers Union Karen Lewis agreed the education system needs to improve, but disagreed with Madigan’s suggestion.

"We need to attract and retain great teachers, principals and school boards who will commit their lives to education, not drive them away. A little respect goes a long way. It's time we focus on what's right and build on that," Lewis said.

Martin Luther King was not Born Today

Martin Luther King was not born today he was born January 15th, 1929. It is a shame that bureaucrats mess around with this great man's Birthday to have a three day weekend. Students should be in school learning the truth about Martin Luther King.



"We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws." Martin Luther King.

My guess is Mr. King would not like the sorry state of Taxpayer Funded Socialist Indoctrination Centers today.

Another dandy fact you are not taught in school Martin Luther King was a Republican. Some other tasty tidbits of information for you to read.



Someone sent me this today, enjoy.

BY A 15 yr. OLD STUDENT IN ARIZONA
New Pledge of Al legiance (TOTALLY AWESOME)!


Since the Pledge of Al legiance
And the Lord's Prayer
Are not allowed in most
Public schools anymore
Because the word 'God' is mentioned.....
A kid in Arizona wrote the attached


NEW School prayer:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.


If scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.


Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene..
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.


For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all..
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.


We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks...
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong..


We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles..
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.


It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen


If you aren't ashamed to do this, Please pass this on..
Jesus said, 'If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.'


Not ashamed. Pass this on.






Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.

Kid's Aren't Cars - No Duh!

Kid's Aren't Cars - No Duh!

It is a sorry state in America that a film like this has to be made. If parents do not know this already they are just not paying attention. If you are a parent you should be aware of your school's report card and what is in all the teachers', administrators' and support staffs contracts. You should also be reviewing your children's books and that is just for starters.


According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 09 report, the USA is 27th in math, 22nd in science, 32nd in reading – dead last in 32 industrialized nations! But so called good parents, conservatives and libertarians keep their children in Taxpayer Funded Socialist Indoctrination Centers, I have to ask once again, "Why are you allowing someone to bare the burden of educating YOUR children?"

The following piece appeared on Big Government.com. Be sure to visit the Big Government website to see the links associated with this story.


Quote of the Day - "Freedom requires responsibility. That is why most men dread it." - George Bernard Shaw



Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.

New Film Exposes Unions’ Decimation of Education
by Kyle Olson

“Kids Aren’t Cars” is a new short film series set for release February 1st. Using examples from the Midwest, it documents the impact organized labor has had on the American education system, creating a one-size-fits-all assembly line model that leaves students behind and treats teachers equally, stifling innovation and improvement.

Our government education system has been spending more and more each year, yet the results have been the same. While unions demand higher spending – which of course ends up in the pockets of their members – money is not fixing the problem.

Those that have been in the trenches gave shocking interviews – stories of money grabs by adults while children are left behind.

An executive director of a literacy clinic in Detroit – where high school graduates go to learn how to read – compared the actions of the school board to the Ku Klux Klan. “If they were sitting up there in Klan robes,” she said, no one would be tolerating what is going on, but the effect is the same. [Eight of the 9 school board members are black.]

We tell the story of two Indiana teachers recognized state-wide for their impact on students, only to be fired literally the next day because they lacked seniority of their co-workers.

Numerous leaders sound the alarm, but do elected leaders have the courage to stand up to the all-powerful teachers’ unions? The tide seems to be turning, but the need is dire. The United States continues to slip globally, with student achievement lagging behind Iceland and Hungary.



In short, it’s because our public school system is designed to benefits adults, at the expense of children. The focus has been on spending – which invariably ends up in pay, health benefits and retirement for the employees.

“Kids Aren’t Cars” is an unflinching look at the state of public education in America and what can be done about it.
The film’s Facebook page is here.

Bankruptcy, not a Bailout

I received the following piece via email from Dick Morris. I totally agree with him. Outrageous pensions to government union employees should have never been promised in the first place they were irresponsible and unsustainable.

Quote of the Day -"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later "you run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher

Cathy
Spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of homonyms and typos are left as an exercise for my readers.

TO SAVE THE STATES: LET 'EM DECLARE BANKRUPTCY
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published in the New York Post on January 12, 2011

Facing huge budget difficulties, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been showing other states how to survive -- namely, by taking on the government-employee unions.

Christie's battles with the teachers unions over the past year have produced countless YouTube hits. And last month, he got a law passed to limit wage hikes from labor arbitrations between the state and public-employee unions to an average 2 percent annual increase.

As New Jersey, New York, California and Illinois -- the four with the highest insurance premiums on their bonds -- face life without a compliant Congress to approve their pleas for more cash, they'll increasingly have to follow Christie's example and rein in their unions.

As Margaret Thatcher famously said, the problem with socialism is that sooner or later "you run out of other people's money."



When the states come calling, the House must say, "No." More, it's time to amend the federal bankruptcy laws to create a procedure for state bankruptcies -- allowing states to abrogate their municipal-union contracts from the school-board level on up.

States, in bankruptcy court, should be able to reorganize their finances so as to put themselves back on a stable footing.

Initially, municipal-bond buyers will protest the lack of federal assistance and may even deny states and localities access to the bond market at any interest rate. But once the states reorganize, they should be able to proceed normally -- just as New York City did after its financial meltdown in the '70s.

Such reorganizations needn't require any ongoing federal involvement. The procedure would let the states help themselves, giving governors and legislatures a third way out of their financial mess. Raise taxes, cut spending or . . . alter union contracts. Each state would face the choice of whether to wallow in overspending or take steps to correct it.

Initially, Democrats will oppose the idea of state bankruptcies. But when House Republicans make clear that no more aid will be forthcoming and that the stimulus spigot is turned off, at least some Democrats will realize this is their best option.

Then, fiscal necessity will have achieved what so many of us want -- a return of true local government.

No more will schools be run for the teachers and by the teachers -- nor will such unions as the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees dominate state legislatures. School choice, charter schools and even voucher programs will have a chance to flourish.

Some fear the US Constitution prevents federal law from extending Chapter 9 to permit state bankruptcies, because it would violate state sovereignty. Yet Chapter 9 is voluntary, so states would remain sovereign -- with merely the option of subjecting themselves to Chapter 9 constraints.

Giving insolvent states the power to break their union contracts would alter dramatically the balance of political power all across the nation. No longer would municipal unions have the financial ability to underwrite the Democratic Party. Gone from our politics would be $200 million that the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, SEIU and AFSCME together spent on political action in the last election cycle.

Government would be returned to the people.