Upper Left Coast

Thoughts on politics, faith, sports and other random topics from a red state sympathizer in indigo-blue Portland, Oregon.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

What's best for the kids? A strike!

Gullyborg on the teacher's strike in the Oregon Trail School District (boldface in original, ellipses are mine):
When a non-public union strikes, the people who need what that union supplies can go elsewhere . . . But when a public union strikes, there is often no alternative for the people. This amounts to sheer blackmail, especially when the service withheld is essential to the public as a whole. It was because of this that Congress made it illegal for certain unions, such as the air traffic controllers, to strike. But Congress didn't take it far enough. As long as there is no viable alternative to government, it should be illegal for ANY government employee to strike.
...
But that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because of this:
Other parents say that option would produce animosity between the teachers and substitute teachers, and they do not want their children taught in a hostile environment.

A 1999 strike by Fern Ridge area teachers near Eugene involved substitute teachers who were jeered and threatened when they crossed picket lines.

Police officers had to escort the subs onto school grounds in some cases.
Our children should be safe. They shouldn't be placed under the care and supervision of violent criminals. Aren't all prospective teachers required to pass some sort of criminal background check? If not, they should be. And if teachers are found guilty of a violent crime, aren't they supposed to be removed from the schools? If not, they should be.

So I say go ahead and replace the striking teachers with substitutes. If the strikers threaten violence, arrest them. Making threats of violence is a crime. Prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. Then, once they are found guilty, ensure that they can never teach in another school.

Any striking teacher who harms, or threatens to harm, a substitute teacher should never be allowed near our children again.
Amen. Of course, it's that very culture of violence, not to mention the fact (at least from what I understand) that most substitutes are union members as well, that will make it highly unlikely that a substitute would cross picket lines.

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