The Teachers According to Owen

Owen has this absolutely right.

...I would suggest, however, that some unionized teachers have given the rest a bad name. When a teacher decides to abandon the kids, skip work, lie about being sick, and protest in order to protest maintaining benefits that are no longer affordable for the taxpayers, they slander all of the good, hardworking, caring teachers who stood by the kids. Yes, it’s not fair because the majority of teachers did the right thing, but it only takes a few vocal jerks to make the whole group look like jerks to some people. At the same time, I didn’t see a lot of noise from those good teachers condemning the anti-education actions of the minority. Silence gives the perception of support.

I encourage my conservative brethren to not paint with a broad brush when it comes to teachers. The majority of them are great folks doing a good job. But at the same time, I encourage the good teachers to be vocal in condemning their thug union colleagues. They aren’t helping you.

I, too, admire the teachers who showed up for work every day, who did not overlay their classes with political whining or proselytizing, and who (thus) actually DO care about the kids and their education. Jay is one of them, by the way.

Like Owen, I also propose that the responsible adults in the group start making it crystal-clear that they do NOT support troublemaking or rabble-rousing. It does not help your cause.