Well it is that time of year again….where we are going to see Tom Dooher on TV whining and complaining that his poor little union isn’t getting enough money from us the taxpayers. The real question is why are we listening to Tom Dooher or any of his demands?
The reason is that he is the head of this state’s largest monopoly; Education Minnesota with it’s 70,000 members. And with his $1.2 million war chest he holds tremendous power over you, your kids, and your money.
So what does Tom Dooher want with your money?
Well, here are Dooher’s priorities according to his bio page
http://www.educationminnesota.org/en/aboutus/governance/tdooher.aspx
Restoring Minnesota’s threatened reputation as a national leader in education.
Threatened reputation? Oh that’s right we forgot that we aren’t taxed high enough! Thanks for reminding us!
Developing academic standards that work for students and educators.
Oh and what are those standards you support and don’t try to fight……give us a minute we are thinking.
Ensuring school funding that is equitable, sustainable, predictable and sufficient.
And what would that be exactly? Sustainable and predictable? How can we predict the what the future will hold? Are schools entitled to more and more and more no matter what the budget situation, or economic conditions, or most importantly performance? And like anything we ever pay will be sufficient! What a joke.
Securing professional salaries so Minnesota students will continue to be taught by the best educators in the country.
No Dooher, you are sadly wrong. We have no problem paying good teachers good money but that’s NOT what you want. You want everyone paid the same and automatic raises every year regardless of performance. Of course in the mind of the unions every teacher is great!
Finding affordable and accessible health insurance options for educators.
And this will improve our education how? We thought Obamacare was going to save us all!
Tom Dooher and his stooges in the legislature oppose nearly everything that will change the status quo the slightest bit. They remain opposed to vouchers, tuition tax credits, charter schools, alternative teacher licenses, merit pay, removing the January 15 settling deadline, moving out of defined pensions, removing steps and lanes, ending or changing tenure, any kind of mandate….you get the picture. How do improve or change if the most powerful lobby rejects or waters down any proposal to change?
So how do we get the change we want? The answer is to use vouchers to go around the union. If people have choice (and choice is not choosing between Lakeview and Noble) and enough of them choose to leave the public schools, then it will FORCE public schools to change. The way it is right now a private school HAS to succeed. If it doesn’t then people will not go there but if the public schools fail (and even the most ardent public school apologists will concede that some are failing) they will still get more money and more money and more money.
We believe in empowering people….not unions. Let’s give parents all across the economic spectrum the ability to go to a private school if they so choose, not just those who can afford it. We’ve spent 60 years throwing money at schools and what has it solved????
Just to be clear…this is NOT a rant against teachers as individuals. It is a rant against the teachers’ representatives. We actually believe that vouchers will HELP teachers as well as students. The best teachers will GET jobs and the market will determine wages so schools can COMPETE for the best teachers which may result in HIGHER salaries, not lower. And best of all, the worst teachers won’t have their jobs protected anymore. Gee, that’s almost how the real world works!
The bottom line is this; schools are about the kids. They are not jobs programs. Education Minnesota cares about employing adults and the kids come somewhere after that. That attitude is unacceptable and we can use vouchers to change this or we can just pay more and more and more and more.
281 Exposed 
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