The events in Wisconsin over the last few days have captured the attention of the American people. The images are inspiring, as tens of thousands of workers stand up to be heard. But while the peaceful protests were taking place in Wisconsin, another event was happening in Denver that didn't grab as many headlines and is equally significant. Let me explain.
In November, Gov. Scott Walker rode the Tea Party wave into office with a Republican-dominated Legislature on his coattails. But right after he took the oath of office, he started playing the same old partisan politics. He proposed and passed $117 million in tax giveaways to special interest groups, then offered up legislation -- giving it the Orwellian label of a "budget repair" bill -- that would slash funding to public schools and public services, and undercut Wisconsin's progressive and democratic values, including workers' right to negotiate. Both the absurdity and the recklessness are captured by the headlines: "Gov. Walker's Pretext" (New York Times) and "Walker Gins Up 'Crisis' to Reward Cronies" (Madison's Capital Times).
Walker is using the fiscal crisis he created to advance an extremist agenda against public employees. In an all-out attack on teachers, nurses and firefighters, he has perverted the truth and disdained Wisconsin's proud and progressive traditions and values. He has sought to intimidate and suppress the voices of workers by threatening to call out the National Guard as they peacefully demonstrate against his draconian policies. By doing so, he has undermined the democratic process -- a process that all Americans have a right to engage in. Given his way, Walker would roll back workers' rights to what they were in the 19th century, and cut the pay and benefits of workers as much as 10 percent -- at a time when many public employees have taken freezes and furloughs already. (They took another furlough today.)
Let's be clear: Gov. Walker's extremist agenda won't create one job. Stripping workers of their rights won't bring economic recovery. Suppressing workers' voices won't fix the fiscal crisis. In short, it will hurt workers and the Wisconsin economy, and cause a loss of revenue in communities across the state. What the governor is doing is an abuse of power. Simply put, he wants to eliminate the labor movement and, with it, the opportunity for middle-class workers, like teachers, nurses and firefighters, to try to make a better life.
Workers have repeatedly offered to sit down with Gov. Walker to help solve the fiscal problem, and they have offered to compromise by proposing over $100 million in potential cuts and savings. But he's boasted in the press that he won't sit down with workers. He seems hell-bent on paying back his deep-pocketed corporate friends with tax breaks, and he's attacking the hardworking people who keep our communities safe and livable.
It's no wonder, then, that Wisconsin residents from all walks of life -- teachers, nurses, cops, firefighters, janitors, stay-at-home moms, faith leaders, bus drivers, students and even members of the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers -- have risen up and aggressively opposed Gov. Walker's attack on workers. The images from the Statehouse in Madison clearly show that tens of thousands of workers and their supporters are fighting back. As I saw with my own eyes while in Madison, they were demonstrating peacefully but with the determination that comes when you know something is deeply unjust and unfair.
A recent statewide poll in Wisconsin reflects that, 2 to 1, voters across the state are strongly opposed to the governor's proposal to weaken collective bargaining.
The recklessness of Walker's actions was especially striking juxtaposed against the National Collaboration Conference in Denver, which highlighted people working together to improve public services, especially public schools.
What a contrast. The gathering reminded us all that, while pitched battles may steal the headlines, it's the collaborative, problem-solving approaches that are really getting the job done for students nationwide. Folks came to Denver as teams -- made up of a superintendent, a school board member and a union leader -- and the trust and willingness to work together was palpable as they talked about what they have accomplished or need to accomplish.
I was heartened by the great work featured at this conference. These were not individual schools -- they were school districts embarked on systemic change for all the kids they serve. The team from St. Francis, Minn., explained the wonderful work they're doing that has transformed teachers' professional development, which is a joke in many places, into an effective way to improve instruction. The team from New Haven, Conn., described how their innovative and collaborative approach not only has brought about much-needed changes in their schools but also has led to greater community support for schools (for example, the New Haven Promise Initiative, which provides financial and academic supports to make college affordable and accessible for every New Haven student). From Plattsburgh, N.Y., to the ABC Unified School District in Los Angeles County, and from Tampa, Fla., to Douglas County, Colo., public officials and public employees are working together to transform their schools so students can succeed in the Knowledge Age.
The hunger to do this kind of work is so great that the conference could not accommodate all the teams that applied to attend. The teams from the 150 school districts that did participate pledged to work even more collaboratively in the future to find creative solutions for the challenges facing our schools and students.
The contrast couldn't be more apparent. And the choice for Americans couldn't be clearer. One course of action is to stand idly by as politicians clamp down on teachers, firefighters, nurses and others, muzzle them, disrespect them and scapegoat them. Another is to respect these workers, and use collective bargaining and working together as the engine of reform -- to value the expertise of these workers who are making a difference in people's lives every day, and to fight for their dignity and respect. That means we have to pressure our leaders to find a way through these difficult times by working together, respecting each other and resisting the temptation to point fingers.
Please join us in our efforts to support the people of Wisconsin. Go to www.aft.org/difference/wisconsin and take action!
Follow Randi Weingarten on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rweingarten
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Second, the Denver conference included NO teachers (!!!!!), NO parents, NO students. Just a bunch of people who belong to the same club, sitting around and agreeing with each other. Business as usual, in other words. Randi Weingarten, you're part of the problem.
I can find these headlines in every Republican State.
First lets separate the teachers from the Police and Firefighters. Whats different? Police and Firefighters learn from their mistakes and they stick together and look out for each other. Work with limited resources. Limited bargaining power; “off the tableâ€. (National Guard: Cheap Shot!)
What grabs my attention; Are teachers really represented at the National Level?
How could the teachers union let it get to the point that teachers have to scramble in the dead of winter to save their union. I thought Teachers had the most powerful union in the world. Lawyers? Consultants? Who was responsible for watching every move Gov. Scott Walker makes?
How many members? 1.5 Million? (times)
Amount union dues, $20-$30 per wk.?
Where's the union leadership??? Denver at the National Collaboration Conference.
Lets take a look; superintendents, board members, union leaders. Parents? Students? None in sight.
Just another seminar, hours of talking and words on some handout. It doest matter if another 150 districts sign up for the next seminar, if parents and students are left out- Nothing is getting accomplished!
Parents want to hear from Teachers! Support them so we can work together.
Parent(student), Union Leader(teacher) Conference?
in Texas which is funding from taxpayer taxes. Instead of releasing prisoners, like the over 6 million illegal immigrants in hundreds of detention prisons all over the state of Texas including children, nonviolent offenders in the Texas prisons currently, the prisons are run by private corporations charging Texas taxpayers billions of dollars. This funding from the Texas Lottery must be changed by the Texas legislature and used only to pay for excellent teachers. Austin ISD Round Rock ISD are laying off thousands of excellent teachers in the school districts that are teaching the future high technology students of tommorow for the high tech industry and the Nasa Space Center,
and medical doctors and nurses. Texas has a emergency shortage of doctors and nurses
in Texas hospitals in the state.
in Texas that depends on advanced highly skilled in science and math high school graduates.
Texas currently ranks the lowest in the United States for math and science testing in public schools. The is the worst form of abusive laws for children in public education. The Texas legislature has absolutely no shame when it involves childrens education and teachers jobs.
Childrens education has no value in Texas. In the future employers will stay away from Texas and soon Texas will be worse off than a third world country.
Last year he cut the budget of the University of Puerto Rico and fired hundreds of the university professors,and thousands of teaching jobs, and other education jobs in the public schools.
The children in the public schools in Puerto Rico have few custodians or school nurses and the children have to clean the schools. These schools are where the United States military recruiters, return to recruit these same children in high school to join the United States military. The thousands of education union workers were protesting and marched for the schools and children, teachers in peaceful protests in the streets in Puerto Rico, and the University of Puerto Rico students marched against the severe funding cuts leaving them with dismal university options thanks to the courtesy of the current Republicans in office. The University of Puerto in Mayguez is where the majority of the engineers at Nasa Space Center are educated. He has privatized the jobs; instead of the education union employees having jobs; without any benefits to eliminate the unions. Over 35,000 employees in Puerto Rico had no jobs in 2010. Puerto Rico has a 16% Unemployment rate created by their very own Republican Governor. Republicans are going in state by state and doing the same thing in the entire United States. They are doing the same thing in Texas, cutting the budget of the Texas Education Agency and eliminating thousands of jobs in the agency.
you still dont get it. all of these people are thinking within the same set of paradigms. it is next to or impossible for any of them to think outside their existing educational paradigm. you need someone outside the existing educational paradigm. please please not corp america their paradigm is profits over people.
kids deserve better than that profits over people ideology.
the same thing wrong on wall street is the same thing wrong with our educational systems. until americans figure that one out nothing much will change. but until then teachers and unions will be blamed. for americans love to blame individuals and seldom if every look at the ideology or systems based on results and not process. more of the same will come out of this but it will be sold as different.
wait and see.
what there is another human out there that understands we are in a class war for survival of the middle class. say it aint so. this is america and they love their capitalism unconditionally even as it takes the middle class to third class status.
thanks dr kate. :-)
plain and simple is not so simple to a nation that is in love with the very economic system taking most of them to third world status. most actually think that capitalism created this large middle class in america.
While I disagree with the fact that a teacher wasn't part of the team effort in CO, this type of collaboration inspires creativity and innovation which has the real potential to lead to change.
Despite the best efforts of media and right-wing ideologues to convince people otherwise, "union leaders" are almost always classroom teachers.
People call in sick fraudulently all the time, don't they? I think there has to be an egregious case to justify tracking down if the person was indeed sick or not, and what constitutes "sick".
I would love to hear her answer to your question, though.
Here's a great strategy...stop me if you've already heard this one...let's keep cutting taxes on the super rich, which in-turn will reduce government revenues, which in-turn will allow us super rich folk to demand all these damn social programs be cut, which in-turn...turns us into somalia! Great strategy!
The "taxpayer" pushing back the most successfully is the one making over $1M per year. If that's you, fine. If it's NOT, wake up!
How is it that when Democrats win national elections and ram a massive tax-and-spend health care bill down the throat of the entire nation with less than 50% popular support and no input or support from any Republican, it's called "democracy," yet Republicans are called "obstructionists" and "the party of no." The President explains to the nation his rational for doing this quite calmly: "I won."
When Republicans win statewide elections in Wisconsin and seek to alter the collective bargaining rights of state workers with no input from the other party, they are called "dictators" and compared to such. Democrats, fleeing the state and their elected responsibilities, are portrayed as heros, and mobs of teachers skipping work (with doctors writing them fake sick notes) to protest are presented as ordinary people. Further, the Democrats and demonstrators insist that their path is the true path of democracy, despite the fact that the bill now before the WI legislature was explicitly laid out on the governor's campaign platform prior to his election.
How can you reconcile these two events? How can "democracy" be so flexible so as to allow ramming a partisan bill through in one case, and yet fleeing your elected responsiblities to prevent such an event is also democracy? It seems impossible to me.
They came after the teachers union because you capitulated time after time. Still singing the praises of your enemies. The teachers should have stayed home. They may have paid a terrible price themselves but won the war for teachers and workers as a whole. You opened the door to these raiders. Of course, you will be fine when you go to work for your friend Bill Gates.