Arne warns states not to "water down" education plans to please unions.

We have come to the point that the top leaders of our party are going after the teachers' unions. Arne may be doing most of the talking, but the others including his boss are sitting back and giving him the floor and the power. The power to destroy public education.

Here is the money quote from Arne in the Wall Street Journal:



That should make his message pretty clear to all teachers and to their unions who holds the power.

Education Week also covers Arne's strong new stance against teachers.



Then Education Week goes a little mealy-mouthed, which is not too surprising.



Of course unions will lose leverage. That is a mind-numbing statement from Education Week. That is the purpose of the Arne's education plan.

In many cases union leaders in states have worked with party leaders to squelch any hope teachers might have had for fair treatment. One good example is Michigan in which a Democratic governor has used pensions to force experienced teachers to retire.



Union executives went along in this case.



I was talking to a couple of teachers I worked with who are not yet retired. It took them a long time to have a clue what was happening to them. They took pride in their many years of teaching, but now those years are being held against them. They will retire much sooner than they planned because of pressures.

Arne is speaking for the Democratic party when he says not to "water down" education plans to please unions. Teachers are no longer given respect by the Democrats. There is no one speaking up for them.

PA's state exam---the PSSA---is a completely bogus entity!

The unrecs started quickly.

This is Bush's plan being pushed full steam ahead. Now no party is in opposition. It's all A Okay if Democrats do it.

That is what makes it a thousand times more disgusting.

Here's a K&R to offset at least one unrec.

awww fuck it.

This is NOT change I want to believe in. I wonder what the NEA and AFT will do in 2012 when neither party represents our interests?

We will see what that holds for the economy and for the party.

It's really not a great idea, you know...to disrespect teachers, break their unions, force them to retire.

So this is working out just well for them.

Like he is superior to those of us who were/are teachers.

God is he stupid!!!!! He makes GWB look like Einstein.

Duncan is the stereotypical dumb jock. He's been hit in the head by a basketball too many times.

I can't even listen to him since the first year of his term when he tried to balance the books by reducing services to the handicapped and reducing the number of hours animals are held before putting them down.

He's a coward and an asshole.

and I'd be thrilled.

It is like they are in a bubble.

Take that to the bank.

he doesn't care about their expertise. The only people who have his ear are billionaires who know nothing about education.

And he represents this administration to the education community.

I guess the union movement is so last century what with balls to the wall capitalism becoming the rule of the day...

Anyway, we can't outsource those bastard teachers, yet, so we do the next best thing; neuter their Union and viola school district budgets across the land have one less worry because, again, union negotiations are so five minutes ago...

arne, fuck you. you'll see who's gonna win this fight asshole.

amazing, is it not, the issues on which this Admin will stick to its guns, and those on which it won't?

on edit: alas, I could not R - too late - but I'm there in spirit

I'm fed up with this administration's treatment of unions and hope the endorsements dry up.

and Obama needs to understand public education. Force him to spend a week being a teacher in a public school.

Let him understand the public teachers' needs.

Hawkeye-X

But I don't think it will happen.

I think it will be dead soon.

But with the treasure chest Arne has, I am sure he will come up with some other scheme to make kids compete for resources.

We all know the DLC desires power and will do whatever it takes to get that power.

DLC: The Republican branch of the Democratic party.

.

The administration is deadset on this and utterly uncompromising, sort of like the "Cadillac Tax" that they were relentless about.

The big boys are going to keep shoving this crap until we the people shove it back at them with gusto. They've got Democrats and pukes all sewed up and will keep the beat drumming. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some teacher's union hobbling come out of the debt task force too as at least some suggestions for the states to dump pension and health care responsibilities. That stuff will be Trojaned in with "suggestions" for the cuts the department of ed needs to make.

Everything is going to be "on the table" and I doubt they'll leave this little chestnut off the list.

facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=49334373979

I don't know what is a worse kick in the teeth -
Arne D
or
the neo-con heading up the DEA..

......(white) basketball player. What actual experience does he have with the exception of being Obama's "friend" and a freebie athletic scholarship to college?

None.

If Arne Duncan is still education secretary in 2012, President Obama can forget my vote, much less my volunteer hours or donations.

from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for $358,915 when teachers pay billions in dues? Purpose: to support training for local NEA affiliates to take on a leadership role in improving teaching practice and student achievement in their districts.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Grants-2009/Pages/The-NEA-Foundation-for-the-Improvement-of-Education-OPP1008864.aspx

The union did nothing to protect my job when I was let go for having too much experience. They did offer to help me rewrite my resume to reflect no advanced degrees or experience so I could compete with those being hired with no credentials or experience. Why do teachers continue to support a union that is clearly working against us? What will it take for the union to start doing its job?

the rest is history.

And don't forget it is not just Broad's guys, it is Gates' people and Walmart's people taking over the public schools. Plus a little of the Skillman foundation.

Plus good old Democratic governors willing to go along with the corporations.

A good article on the topic:

Eli Broad describes close ties to Klein, Weingarten, Duncan

"Broad said that his foundation has given money to the two charter schools the union president here, Randi Weingarten, opened; has trained seven or eight of the top officials in Chancellor Joel Klein’s Department of Education; and was a player in Klein and Weingarten’s merit-based pay deal.

The remarks came at an event at the 92nd Street Y Monday, where the writer Matthew Bishop of the Economist interviewed Broad on a small stage. Broad said the close relationship began as soon as Klein took the job. “From the first day Joel took office, literally, we met with him,” he said. He is close with other education leaders, too.

In Washington, D.C., the Broad Foundation has met repeatedly with superintendent Michelle Rhee and is believed to be one of the groups that would fund Rhee’s plan to give teachers more money in exchange for giving up tenure rights. Broad said on Monday that several of his staff members are taking jobs in Arne Duncan’s U.S. Department of Education."

And one that tells about the union head one being on the Broad superintendents faculty.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5989

"ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM 2002 PRESS RELEASES, ETC.:

Participants in the academy will not need to leave their current jobs immediately. They will attend trainings for a number of weekends over a ten-month period in locations across the country. Fellowships, including tuition, travel and all program-related expenses, will be fully covered by The Broad Center. At the end of the training, The Broad Center will help place participants in urban school districts as administrators and superintendents.

The Fellows received guidance from leaders in business, education and the non-profit sectors. Faculty at the Academy included:

* Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education
* Henry Cisneros, CEO, American CityVista
* William Cox, Managing Director, School Evaluation Services
* Chris Cross, Senior Fellow, Center on Education Policy
* Chester E. Finn, Jr., President, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
* Frances Hesselbein, Chairman, The Drucker Foundation
* Don McAdams, Founder, Center for Reform of School Systems
* Donald Nielsen, President, Hazelton Corporation; Chairman, 2WAY Corporation Hugh B. Price, President and CEO, National Urban League
* Paul Ruiz, Principal Partner, Education Trust
* Adam Urbanski, Director, Teacher Union Reform Network
* Randi Weingarten, President, United Federation of Teachers"

The union or "association," WEA, didn't do jack for me when I was wrongfully terminated; indeed, the executive director at the time took a bribe in the form of a job working under the very person, the head of HR, who spearheaded my firing--over a stupid form--so she could not testify on my behalf.

But my dismissal was really age discrimination and the desire to cheat me out of my full retirement benefits.

The district and "association" just fucking RUINED me.

so I am really appalled to hear that we can't adjust educational reforms to please our teachers' unions.

Water down HCR to please hateful jerks but don't adjust educational reforms to help devoted teachers?

That just doesn't make sense.

Why are people upset at this arrogance by the SecEd? Was there some disconnect about where he came from or who he's working for?

It's been said elsewhere and I'm gonna drag it onto DU: this president is no more concerned about the average citizen's life than his predecessors going back 30+ years, though for obvious reasons he's a quantum leap in marketing. You could say we're entering the buyer's remorse part of an embarrassingly willing sale.

The tragedy is many peoples' well-meaning interest in racial equality and social justice is being used to blunt highly-appropriate opposition of everyday policy. Parading around in skimpy fig leaves isn't going to remove the need to face the reality that this administration is dangerous.

And if you think RTTT and HCR have been outrageous, just wait for the next haymaker from Obama, which will begin with the report from the Committee to Destroy Social Security. Like Clinton before him, he's carrying out heinous acts that Republicans couldn't pull off. And we're only 15 months in.

You're welcome.

Is that what we're seeing here?

On top of the 500 billion dollars in Medicare cuts promised in the health insurance industry bill.

They never spelled out the details on those Medicare cuts except to say they would end wasteful spending, (what kind?) abuse (such as?) and fraud (and how much of the 500 billion would be cut by ending fraud?).

Medicare and Social Security cuts couldn't be achieve on President Bush's watch.

Perhaps a Democratic President is required in order to accomplish those goals to "cut the deficit".

Remember, the deregulation of the banks and financial services industry happened under President Clinton. George Bush #1 couldn't get it done.

We were all conned.

That's what the Democratic party leadership has evolved into.

"Liberals" are and will remain a small and ineffectual minority in the Democratic Party.

Can anyone lay out a reasonable scenario where at least 60 genuine liberal Democratic Senators win control of the United States Senate and a progressive is also elected President?

I was a good teacher, but there's only so much I'll take.

but shits on teachers, single payer and public option advocates, and those who want to end the endless wars for resources.

MadForidian- Check it out- www.mea.org. Teachers are paying membership in the hundreds of dollars for a union that endorses this crap legislation and then sells it as a win-no kidding. We are talking 3% tax ABOVE what teachers are now paying.. lets see... 3,000.? What! Yes. They agree that the House version of Senate Bill 1227 just passed by the Dems ( NO MORE INCUMBENTS period) is a WINNNNNNNNNER. MEA says make that call to the legislature in support. No- the anger at this injustice is that the MEA is wrong- this misrepresentation will take teachers hard earned money.

Its interesting the way this political game is played with two bad guys, or rather three- including the MEA. The result is just what Granholm (D) wanted one would think. The politicians who so mismanage our state creating disaster after disaster- want to use the teachers retirement to cover their asses.

Back to MEA- they now (read always) support this less offensive bill (really?) because the money goes to an IRS irrevocable trust-a big step forward to insuring that health type benefits will be there for retirees in the future. Rational is that employees will be paying a significant part of the cost, sooooo it will make it harder to "take" the benefits away in the future. Huge gain for all current and future retirees.
The bill would expand MPSERS to third party and contracted (nooooo, not the professionals) and this would spread the "unfunded" liabilities over a larger bunch of employees which should reduce the amount districts have to pay for the retirement contribution! Sleight of hand. Take from the teachers, give to the district. Watch for it next week in the legislative calendar.
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(1caeytm5rkzz4e45xgffjxn4))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=2010-SB-1227

THIS IS YOUR MEA UNION ENDORSING NOT REJECTING, TEACHERS. THESE ARE THE DEMOCRATS. FIRE THEM ALL.

Here is legislative analysis from http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2009-2010/billanalysis/House/pdf/2009-HLA-1227-4.pdf

3% Contribution into Irrevocable Trusts for Retiree Health Care

Requiring an employee contribution of 3% for MPSERS employees toward retirement
health care would allow for a reduction in the employer contribution. Estimated savings
would be between $270 and $291 million depending on the number of retirements for FY
2010-11 and could total between $2.7 billion and $2.9 billion over ten years. This
provision would create savings only if the increased employee contributions are used to
reduce the employer contribution rate as opposed to being saved to pay for future retiree
health costs.

Nice. Oh and Obama should be voted out too. Incumbents.

Is that another way to force them to retire?