Voice For Liberty

Teachers union members to be proud of

Bob Weeks

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Critics of public schools usually explain that they’re not faulting individual teachers. Instead, they target their criticism at the teachers union, bureaucratic school administration, or “the system” in general.

So when we observe the actions of teachers, we’re correct to wonder if they’re acting as citizens, or as teachers representing their school districts, or as union members, or in some other role. This issue is important when we take notice of the actions of teachers at a recent meeting of the South-Central Kansas Legislative Delegation in Wichita.

Here’s a message tweeted during that meeting from Judy Loganbill, a Wichita school teacher and until this year, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives:

This salty language inspired by political conflict: Is that Judy Loganbill citizen, teacher of young children, or union member speaking?

This glee spilled over to Facebook:

Wichita teachers on Facebook

Randy Mousley is president of United Teachers of Wichita, the Wichita teachers union. Parents of Wichita schoolchildren might be interested in knowing which role he’s assuming when taking credit for his invention: Citizen, union leader, teacher, or something else?

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Comments

8 responses to “Teachers union members to be proud of”

  1. sue c.

    Thuggish behavior to say the least. I saw some guy at the forum with a t-shirt that said “I will step on you to win.”

    If anyone on the right side of the political spectrum were to tweet or wear any of these words, there would be no end to the outrage.

  2. sue c.

    My other observation was the conservative legislators on the panel were very measured with their responses to the hostile crowd. I have to agree. I was taught “never poke a skunk.”

  3. Larry Smith

    This is typical propaganda from Mr. Weeks and his cronies at Americans for Prosperity. We apologize for nothing that was said or done on March 2nd, nor for anything that was posted on Twitter or Facebook.
    To answer Mr. Weeks question: there is no distinction between being a person, a teacher, and a union member. We are proud to be identified by all of those labels, not only in Saturday’s venue, but to our students and their parents. As citizens, we were exercising our First Amendment rights, which some legislators are trying to limit based on our union status.
    But while we’re on the subject, maybe Mr. Weeks should follow his own standard. Mr. Weeks likes to pretend that he is merely a private citizen concerned with liberty and freedom. He is, in fact, a shill for Americans for Prosperity, and was recently called out for his lack of transparency by a Wichita city councilman. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
    — Larry Smith
    United Teachers of Wichita

  4. Jennifer B

    A shill for Americans for Prosperity? Wow…that may be the most ridiculous thing I’ve read in quite awhile. !

  5. Horatius

    As a former legislator, I can tell you that I introduced legislation for the State to give pay raises to the teachers, but the unions opposed it because they wanted control of the money. The unions were content with defeating the direct pay raises to the teachers unless they control the action first. In addition, the union interviews of candidates for elections are a sham. You can be for all of their issues, but if you are pro-life, you will not get their endorsement.

  6. Larry Smith

    Horatius, if you were a former legislator, you should know that the legislature does not give out pay raises to teachers, unionized or not. That money goes to local districts, and they and the local teacher union bargain on that issue. I’m willing to bet that your legislation was not an across-the-board raise, was it? I would bet it was merit pay. Teachers might be more willing to look at merit pay if legislators had to be subject to it first. And as a member of the committee that interview candidates, I can safely say that we have no idea where people stand on abortion. But we do not endorse candidates that are anti-education.

  7. Anonymous

    Larry, who was that Wichita city councilman? Was it one that Bob exposed for accepting campaign contributions from people he voted to give no-bid contracts to?

  8. Larry Smith

    I don’t respond to people who are too cowardly to give their real names.

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