The Teachers' Unions that Stole Christmas

In case anyone wondered why the teachers’ unions have so much power and can get seemingly endless number of politicians to vote to screw children again and again, this is your answer (and this is the reason Democrats for Education Reform is so important):

The Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics recently released data showing that the NEA topped the chart as the number one national donor during the 2007-08 election cycle, shelling out $57.6 million in combined federal and state contributions. The American Federation of Teachers was number 25, with more than $13 million in contributions

Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency put this in perspective, writing that the NEA's and AFT's 2007-08 contributions meant that "America's two teachers' unions outspent AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, General Electric, Chevron, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, Boeing, Merrill Lynch, Exxon Mobil, Lehman Brothers, and the Walt Disney Corporation, combined."

Obama and Duncan have, overall, been GREAT on education reform, but throwing the DC voucher program under the bus is a notable exception:

The Obama administration--already having trouble explaining why it is doing away with a program its own Department of Education reported has advanced participating children's reading achievement by more than three months--will now have another opportunity to explain to low-income D.C. parents and students why it and the Democrat-led Congress has decided to grant the teachers' unions' wish instead of theirs.

Last February President Obama claimed in a weekly radio address that he would fight special interests. "The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long," Obama said. "But I don't. I work for the American people."

D.C. students and parents like William and her son will no doubt see things differently.

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The Teachers' Unions that Stole Christmas
The school-choice program for D.C. schoolchildren may end sooner than expected.
by Sheryl Blunt, Weekly Standard
12/08/2009 12:00:00 AM

www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/312ceugw.asp

 

As Christmas grows closer, the hopes of thousands of D.C. schoolchildren and their families are appearing dimmer and dimmer, and no one is celebrating more than the teachers' unions.