WyBlog

Meet some world-class teachers union shakedown artists

You guys know that I'm not a fan of the teachers union. The NJEA cares more about their pensions and benefits than they do about educating our children. They march in lockstep with the Democratic Party and until Chris Christie came to town they generally got whatever they wanted out of Trenton.

But the NJEA's got nothing on the teachers union in Montgomery County Maryland where they've taken politics to a whole new level. There the teachers union has perfected "pay to play". As in, if you want to get elected, you gotta pay them.

In the latest elections for the Montgomery County Council most candidates on the union-approved (and trademarked) "Apple Ballot" coughed up the maximum contribution allowed by state law, $6,000, to a PAC run by the Montgomery County Education Association, as the teachers union is known. Union-backed candidates for the Board of Education also paid handsomely. Supposedly, these funds covered the cost of the union's mailings to constituents and other activities on behalf of its anointed candidates -- although there is no real accounting on a campaign-by-campaign basis. In theory, these contributions are voluntary. In fact, several sources told us that the MCEA's chief political strategist, Jon Gerson, made it clear that he expected candidates, once endorsed, to pay what they "owed" for the union's campaign on their behalf. One candidate, asked to explain the decision to pay, answered concisely: "Fear."

The inmates are running the asylum.

The union's endorsement is powerful enough to essentially guarantee electoral victory. And if you incur their ire, you're in for one heck of a fight.

This distorts and perverts the political process. A case in point is Nancy Floreen, the current County Council president, who suggested, during a budget crunch in 2003, that the union make some concessions on compensation. That probably cost her the MCEA endorsement in the 2006 primaries, in which she barely managed to retain her council seat. This year, facing reelection and even more dire budgetary circumstances, Ms. Floreen has been quiet as a mouse on the subject of union concessions, even though negotiations on a new contract for teachers are underway.

"Fear" is right. Do what the union says, and fork over your cash, or you're out of a job.

In addition to its multiple and targeted mailings in the last elections, the MCEA planted yard signs, bought advertising on the radio and at Metro stations and deployed teachers to every key county polling station, where they handed voters sample "Apple Ballots" of endorsed candidates bearing the words "Teacher Recommended." Of the 47 "Apple Ballot" candidates in 2006, 42 won their races for county and state legislative offices.

How's that for hitting parents low and hard? "Teacher Recommended" translates into what's best for the union. What's best for the taxpayers (or the children) doesn't figure into the mix. The implication is clear, toe the union line, or else.

The union gets to decide who their bosses are (the school board) and who gets to approve the county budget (which includes the teachers union contract). It's no wonder that they have exhorbitant salaries, lavish benefits, and unprecedented control over the educational process. No politician dares to cross them.

And of course the other county unions see the MCEA making out like bandits and demand similar pay and benefit scales. In the midst of the deepest recession in a generation the MCEA is insisting on big raises in their current contract negotiations. Anyone who objects will almost certainly fail to be "teacher recommended" for re-election.

So, where is the outrage? President Obama is appalled at the prospect of "corporate money" influencing the political process. Yet Montgomery County is under the complete control of a far more insidious force. The MCEA has perfected legalized extortion. They're worse than the Mafia, because the Mafia doesn't target children.

Posted at 15:47 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   | Trackback | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: NJEA education campaign+finance