Yes, I’m sure you do have that perception, and it’s no accident that you do. It’s been fed to you by the Privatization Movement. These are people/entities who benefit from the government far more than any union employees do, and they will not be satisfied until they own and control public finances and all of the commons.
The ONLY thing standing in their way? Public employee unions.
Once again, politicians and public employees are NOT “on the same side of the table.” There is no “club,” there is no secret society where public union employees and politicians come together to conspire against “the people.”[/quote]
The old boys club, as I have used it in an economic context is one of association and “peer” social norms…
“one of our findings is that people’s standards for morality are dramatically influenced by the behavior of people around them and I think that if you have a situation where bankers are friends with bankers and politicians are friends with politicians and they see people in their social circle misbehaving in a dishonest way there is basically a temptation to match that behavior and find a similar behavior, find it socially acceptable, follow up on it and continue behaving this way. And of course, the really sad thing about it is that those things have a propensity for a slippery slope and escalation, which I think is exactly what we’ve seen over the past few years and sadly I have not seen any serious attempt to stop this escalation and even to reset it, but we have to because we are getting into a worse and worse situation over time.”
This “economic” explanation could account for why there have been so many lapses in good judgement “locally” (i.e. mayor and SDPD being “exposed” as pervers, pay to play in the south bay “sweetwater,” FBI investigation of foreign national to donate to political campaigns, poway billion dollar school bond, the 20 billion WSJ news report about “pension” portfolio management, etc.)
Our outlook on life is based on actual hands on experience and interactions with family/friends. Since I have no “teaching experience” yet have interest in the subject, I enjoy watching documentary news reports/films
Perhaps it is look into the future of schools here in SD/CA in that many students have parents struggling to find a way to make living in a global economy. In addition we have administrators/teachers trying to protect their own position in a system that is not producing “members” of the next economic generation that are a net positive to society.
Dan Rather Reports – A National Disgrace
Sadly another way of looking at the “status quo” problem is the school system is more like prison (where students are the in mates, and administrators/teachers/union members are the guards). Upon graduation/release the students/inmates do not have a “reputable” skill set necessary to thrive in a world with so called free and open markets.
Waiting for superman
“I teach in California in a district where teachers get tenure after 2 years. No portfolios are required, no interview, nothing! You get it simply by fulfilling your time. My school is in a very high poverty area with predominately ELLS. Our kids are behind as it is, and they are stuck with terrible teachers year after year who are protected by a bogus contract and a terrible teachers union that protects it.”
which I realize has to be balanced against a$$holes and idiots
The biggest reason teachers need unions is that educational administrators are not always the best and the brightest.
