Selected Articles
Man the Choicemaker
Nature vs. Government
A Fairy Tale of Glibness of Pap
"Be Thou an Honest Man?"
"Champion Y'shua Jesus"
Halloween 365 Nights-a-Year
Humble? On Purpose?
"In League with the Stones..."
Law or Principle
"Paid In Full."
Hands of a Teacher
"The Flyer said..."
The Force in Motion
The Jew
The Value of the Individual
"Why un-Believers Can't THINK"
"The Mathematics of Life"
Butter and Honey
Declaration of Independance - Intro
Humanism
Isaac Newton
Letter to Sam Lamb
Tribute to an Uncommon Educator
Classic Mediocrity
U.S. Marines
A New Life
Under God
"Big Jim" Causey
Leadership
Unionized Public Schools: Classic Mediocrity
My 30-year service as a public school teacher began in 1957. In 1970, the Los Angeles teachers' union, UTLA, called a strike. Their attempt to close the schools met failure in view of the largely professional viewpoint of a great majority of the L.A. teachers at the time.
Through the following years, the several teachers' organizations continued to represent their members before the school board on a proportional basis of membership as the Winton Act required. The union continued an ongoing drumbeat to the teachers that they would have "more clout" if they would join the union. They had minor success.
By the late 1970's, State Senator Rhodda authored a bill before the Senate and Assembly that would require all teachers in every public school district to choose a single teachers' organization to represent them. It worked!
The teachers had accepted the union ploy of "clout." The union won and the voice of the professional teacher was silenced - without further representation. California public schools went from No. 1 to No. 50, as statewide the story was repeated. Nation-wide, the NEA and AFT prevailed. As predicted, public school education went into the toilet. Since the first priority of any union is the benefit of the union and its members, the students were given a backseat. Today, the publicsector blockage of education reform continues by the unions -- private-sector organizations.(Koret Foundation)
Ignoring the cause, politicians, parents, and teachers today do not have a clue as to a solution. The worker -- mentality and lack of professional identity and values grinds on while the children of each succeeding generation suffer ongoing classic mediocrity -- and worse.
Parents who care will have to lead. Meanwhile, private, parochial, and homeschooling, are the only reliable 'student first' educational institutions available. If anyone disagrees tell 'em they're long overdue to "Put up..."
Jim Baxter
Santa Maria, California