AFl-CIO coming to a School near You

Yes, that's right. The teacher's union has joined with the largest and most militant labor union in the country. How will this improve education, you ask? Great question. I personally don't see the link between the AFL-CIO and education. The purpose is probably not to improve education. The purpose is probably to allow the teacher's union to become more militant so that it can control even more school boards across the country. A link to one of many articles on this topic is below:

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/jointheaflcio/nea.cfm

In a June 29, 2006 letter addressing this new partnership, AFL-CIO head John Sweeney showed his excitement over the union's more powerful ability to purchase the nation's legislatures and school boards. He said:

Now we can forge new bonds and make new gains in
school boards, in city councils, and state houses where so many decisions affect
the quality of working families' lives.

Again, how will this improve the state of education for your children? Do we expect this new labor partnership to visit the local area any time soon? The following exerpt can be found at http://masooma.blogspot.com. This blog is run by Diana Beatty, who is the Secretary to the local CSEA Board:

Pueblo 60
Last night about 6 board members for CSEA (including Tim, technically not a board member, but the Uniserv Director) went down to Pueblo to support teachers in District 60. They are still trying to negotiate a contract since last school year. They are not on strike yet, but could be if the situation doesn't improve. They were holding a rally before the school board meeting. Interestingly, after watching part of their meeting, it seems school board problems are everywhere. I personally feel part of the problem is that school board members frequently do not really know education, schools, etc., and yet they become in charge of them. It seems to me to be a flawed system. Anyway, they really seemed to appreciate the support and presence of other teachers. There were also members of the Steel Workers union and the Teamsters there to show their support. The evening was a very positive one for the teachers even though no progress was made in getting a contract.

From the CSEA website at http://www.cseateacher.org/ we see:

Rallying with our Pueblo Colleagues
On Tues, October 10 several members of the CSEA Board of Directors went down to Pueblo to rally with the District 60 teachers. They are having a difficult time bargaining with their own challenging school board. They have reached impasse and are now in the process of fact-finding. They are working to contract and there is talk of stronger job actions on the horizon. Keep them in your thoughts 'cause we're all in this together!
What time is it?

It's Union Time!

Notice that it's not "Time for Kids!" It is "Union Time!"

People wonder why I have a problem with the union leadership. My problem is not that D11 has a union; my problem is that the union leadership does nothing to further excellent schools. The union leadership did not go to Pueblo on that Tuesday in October to demand better student performance. They and their new AFL-CIO partners went to support the "union."

The CSEA likes to claim that it is a professional organization rather than a union. This partnership with the AFL-CIO proves otherwise. A "professioanl organization" would advocate for kids, would it not? Sadly, this new militancy will only detract further from the improvement of the American education system. This new partnership was not meant to improve your schools; rather, it is designed to give the union leadership greater power over its employer, which is you, the public.

I would like to see the talking points for this trip to Pueblo. Maybe they would say, "This show of force with the steelworkers is meant to show the parents of School District 11 that we are serious about the plight of unionized labor...no wait, serious about the plight of the steel industry...no, not that....serious about the state of education in D60, no we mean D11...serious about purchasing unchallenging school boards...oh, never mind."

...but it was a successful trip!