The New Republic

Wow, you're updating like a mofo today. Did Foer start putting cocaine in the coffee?

- Shorpe

April 21, 2011 at 1:55pm

"In education, the only real economic interest with skin in the game is the teachers' union." JC, come check what is going on here in Wake Co., NC (Raleigh area) and you'll have a different take. It's a complete take-over of the local school board by extreme right-wing elements. That's true all in many areas of the southeast; check look at the text book controversies in Texas for further proof. The unions have zero influence here and other sun belt states (they're outright illegal for public employees in NC). You're guilty of some lazy reporting full of right-wing union bashing.

- tmmats

April 21, 2011 at 2:35pm

When I hear "local control," I usually think of right-wingers insisting that schools teach creationism or abstinence-only sex-ed. Any excesses of the teachers' unions are low on my list.

- benjamin81

April 21, 2011 at 2:40pm

As far as I could tell, the whole "local control" "anti-union" viewpoint is a smokescreen. Basically, the Red states want to cut spending on education across the board. If they can de-fund public schools, they will. If they can use vouchers to assist their wealthy to fund private schools, they will. And blaming the Government, or The Unions, for 'Forcing' them to pay for local public schools is just a convenient fig-leaf. EVERYBODY who pays property taxes, has children of school age, has dreams of education for their children providing them a good living, has "skin in the game", I was amazed to see you parrot a conservative anti-Union talking point.

- AllanL5

April 21, 2011 at 2:42pm

And JC, what Allan describes, huge (around 20%) cuts for public education funding and using vouchers for private schools is the agenda for the GOP-controlled legislature in NC. While they're at it they're also slashing funding for community colleges and the UNC system (also in the 20% range). Again, no unions involved. It's Ayn Rand's fantasies being implemented as fast as possible. Oh, and they're also digging up huge tax breaks for big business and want to slash top income tax rates along with other tax giveaways for big business. Sound like a familiar song? Again, no unions are in the way.

- tmmats

April 21, 2011 at 2:49pm

yeah, this was a terrible post. Citizens United might help unions in a few NE states where they can marshall their resources but the notion that school boards are controlled by teachers unions is absurd. Hell a lot of school boards are full of people who know jack shit about education and run on their ignorance as a virtue. Here is just a typical blurb from the Bethlehem Twsp. NJ board of education: "On March 23, the Bethlehem Township Board of Education passed a resolution to approve a below zero budget resulting in a tax cut. The discussion was focused on cost reductions without affecting our students and programs offered. At the end of this discussion, over $100,000 of additional cuts were identified to provide tax relief to our community. Six members voted yes; one was absent. The board achieved consensus for the negative 1.25% budget because they acted diligently and made fiscally prudent cost-cutting decisions while ensuring that the quality of education was not impacted." Look at the focus of these numbnuts, not on improving education but strictly on cutting money from the budget while claiming it would have no adverse affect. And this is in the northeast in New Jersey while Gov. fatboy is busy cutting education funding at the state level. I taught for years at one of the worlds top rated school district at one of its top schools in Shanghai. My wife was one of the less able students and went to a secretarial trade school for High school in Shanghai yet she was able to go to the states and graduate at the top of her Nursing class in a language not her own. There are a lot of debates in China about how to improve the educational process, I taught English to top Principals from the district who go to the states for educational programs because the Chinese want to learn how to foster creativity in their students. My point is that Chinese take education seriously. Very fucking seriously. The Republicans (too many) don't, they take property taxes seriously. And no, this is not about being Tiger mothers, that woman is not from China, her family came from China generations ago and is as Chinese as I am German.

- blackton

April 21, 2011 at 3:15pm

Here we have the epistemically-closed left out in force. The teachers' unions are reactionary entities for the most part, and have been for a very long time. They have militated against serious educational reforms since time immemorial. But the ideologues point their fingers at problems that emanate from the right, turning blind eyes to real problems with the unions. So often, reading comments at TNR Online reminds me of reading the Conservative Chronicle, Human Events, The Weekly Standard, National Review, und so weiter. Deny deny deny, hit back at the opposition, below the belt if necessary, and never ever admit that your side has its flaws, too. Tyler Cowen is a prime example of a far different approach and a noble one: Recently, he drew up a list of mistakes that left-wing economists tend to make, but he balanced that with one that enumerated mistakes by right-wing and market economists. You will never find this sort of honesty from the above-mentioned conservative publications, nor from many commenters here at TNR.

- liberalref

April 21, 2011 at 3:36pm

And here we have the expected response defending JC no matter what from Liberalref. Please point out the excessive influence of teacher's unions in the southeast. You won't find it in MS, AL, NC, SC, GA, FL, TX, LA, etc. Sure teachers unions bear some blame but apparently you aren't paying attention to what's going on in school boards that have zero union influence, which is a good chunk of the nation. All I heard was bashing unions when it comes to education reform, never a peep about the know-nothings that are dominating way too many school boards. Some balance.

- tmmats

April 21, 2011 at 3:52pm

I'd like to see a comparison of state educational systems in union & non union states. But, here in NC (where collective bargaining for public employees including teachers is illegal, as tmmats pointed out), there is quite a bit of variation in school services, quality, and measures of student achievement from one local system to another. Also my impression is that education has become more overtly politicized, so that when power shifts, time energy & money are spent & wasted undoing what has been done or accomplished by the previous administration. Probably unions have had a distant effect by pressuring some of the non-union states to be more competitive to attract teachers, but for us in the southeast the focus on unions doesn't begin to address our education issues.

- s.trabka@frontier.com-old

April 21, 2011 at 9:59pm

Meanwhile, in Texas, the Governor has declared the next three days should be spent praying for rain. Just sayin'.

- Sophia

April 22, 2011 at 1:09am

Lib, I don't think making a counterpoint to JC (whom we all - except Rat - respect and admire) counts as being epistemically closed. Pretty much every poster has made valid counterpoints. I live in Texas and shudder to think the crap my 8 year old will have to go through as she grows up in our public school system, given the unbelievably reactionary attitudes of the people who decide what our children will be taught. The point people are trying to make is that wingnuts are out in force in enough states in the country that Will's generalization is not valid.

- NR409654

April 22, 2011 at 4:58am