Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Heroes or money grubbing thugs?

The heroic teachers who died while courageously trying to protect their kids at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, and the others who survived but stayed to protect the kids, were all part of a school system where the employees are members of the American Federation of Teachers.

Just let that sink in for a moment. Then compare their actions to Mark Belling's description of teachers:

"Most Wisconsin public school teachers are absolute lunatics. People at least now are beginning to say this. I've been talking about this for years. Most of them are not good people. Most are not fair minded. Most of them do not care about the children. Most of them are sickening union thug money jerks who couldn't care less about the public good."

Those teachers, who are routinely accused by our politicians and radio talk show hosts of being drones and selfish, incompetent money grubbers worried more about their pensions than about teaching our children (though most, even after 10 years, earn less than $55,000 a year for doing a very difficult job that involves at least 12-14 hours a day of work and prep time counting meetings with parents), stood their ground when confronted with a psychotic assailant armed with semi-automatic pistols and an automatic rifle, and protected their kids.

The principal too, a veteran teacher herself, stood her ground, reportedly suicidally charging at the assailant along with the school’s psychologist in a doomed effort to tackle him and stop the carnage.

How many of us would have had to the courage to stand in front of a closet door to keep an armed madman from finding the kids hidden behind it, as one slain teacher died doing? How many of us would charge at an armed shooter, to almost certain death, in an effort top stop him from further killing? How many would bravely hide in a bathroom with a class of kids when we could have run away and saved ourselves?

And this: How many of the politicians in Washington and in state capitals and how many conservative think-tank “researchers” or radio talk show hosts who attack teachers as leeches and drones would have shown such heroism under fire? My guess is damned few -- if any.

Yet it appears from the news reports that not one teacher in that unionized school fled the scene and abandoned the children to their fate. They all stuck with their kids. So did the custodian -- no doubt a unionized worker earning modest wages -- who ran through the building warning everyone of the attacker’s presence.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Newtown school board, like school boards all over this country, was considering cutting the school’s elementary music program and library program.

The school librarian and the school music teacher, whose jobs were on the line at the school board, stayed with the kids they were teaching when the attack began.

Yet in an attitude all too typical of many Americans’ thinking, one man, in a discussion section of the local paper, discussing the local School Board’s $1-million budget cutting plans last spring, wrote to a teacher last spring:

  "You, as a public sector employee, don’t generate ANY revenue. Every penny of the budget of your public sector enterprise is TAKEN from producers. It’s other people’s money versus money your organization EARNED. Your salary is not market based. Your salary, nor your benefits, nor your job, is in jeopardy during contracting economic times. If I want a raise I have to prove I have contributed more to the bottom line, and then it doesn’t matter unless the entire firm has grown the bottom line sufficiently to give me that raise. You are insulated from that reality. Your private (sic) sector salary only goes up. How is that fair? Especially in light of the fact that you don’t even generate the revenue that pays for your constantly rising salary?"

Some of those “non-revenue-generating” unionized teachers, and the school’s non-revenue-generating principal, just died defending their students.

I wonder if their critics would have done the same?

This post is a modified version of a blog posting by David Lindorff

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

There were countless displays of moronic and childish behavior by union teachers and union workers in the protests of the last few years. Don't ever recall you writing a blog post condemning that absurd behavior and action? If these poorly behaving public union members did not make such complete fools of themselves, youtube, radio & TV talk show hosts would not be able to talk about the absurd behavior of these representatives of a group. If you honestly think that all of your union brothers and sisters acted with the utmost class at the State Capital during the last year and half, then you are a bad judge of character. People want to be treated like professionals they need to act like professionals. Kudos to the heroes at Sandy Hook School, they deserve all of our praise...but let's hope we have heroes like that in every school from coast to coast - wether a non-union member or a union member. But simply being a union teacher or staff member of a union doesn't make you any more of a hero than a non-union teacher or non-union staff member. God Bless the innocent children and staff who lost their lives in this horrific incident! Hope it was ok I used the reference to God.

old buck said...

anon@856:

You sir/madame, are an utterly classless observer of the present situation. It is obvious from your lack of character or courage that you could never act in a selfless manner as did the Sandy Hook staff, and others in situations that needed a stiff spine and a need for immediate action.

Merry Christmas.

Anonymous said...

I think it is pathetic that rosen uses this tragedy to push his political agenda.

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Anonymous said...

Conservatives are scum.

Anonymous said...

@old buck

Obviously you were one of the union members making a fool of yourself and all other union members at the State Capital. I can guarantee I would lay my life on the line to help save co-workers, kids or students - doubt you would have the courage to do the same. So what is your point about lack of character for criticizing union members for acting like fools? Are you insinuating that only union members can act in a selfless manner...you have drank too much union koolaid, yikes! Happy New Year.

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