NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
So the #### what. Are the Gates and Broad Foundations better with their picks now sitting?
If you think teacher's associations/unions in Maryland have any power at all you need to look again.
Hogan vetos bill pushed by Teachers Uniions.....
- Thread starter Bird Dog
- Start date
So the #### what. Are the Gates and Broad Foundations better with their picks now sitting?
If you think teacher's associations/unions in Maryland have any power at all you need to look again.
Yes, they do have power. They bring a lot of votes, then negotiate with the people that voted them in. Just like all public sector Unions.
SCOTUS should fix that this year......thank goodness
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
That's a separate issue and you still don't realize what little power the teacher's association in this state have. If they have any power at all I wouldn't have made less at year 30 than I did at year 20.
I guess when it comes to teachers, and parents, you have major issues but having a representative of the Gates Foundation, which give the state millions and millions of dollars every year, it's ok to have a voice on the State Board. That, apparently, isn't a conflict for you.
Some light reading:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...075d5508f0a_story.html?utm_term=.5f08797e7a16
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...hers-didnt-go-so-well/?utm_term=.1053871c0046
https://parcc.pearson.com/
Ding, ding, ding.
They have 60,000 votes......that’s a lot of power
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
Spread out over 23 Counties and Baltimore City.
How much power do you Beltway Bandits down at PAX have? Enough that the County Commissioners in three Counties #### their pants if there's even a mention that one program or another might get moved.
? What do the contractors have to do with where programs are sited? They simply follow them where they do go.
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
Comparing the relative power of 24 separate teacher associations spread out across the state to the concentration of money and lobbyists in a small area. Making County Commissioners/School Boards take a dump in their drawers due to a teacher association statement has never happened. A contractor or government official talking about the remote possibility of a PAX program moving has.
I've never seen an example of a contractor having sway over where the government decides to site programs. On the other hand, I've seen the teachers union get the local government all twisted up in knots. Numerous ways and numerous times.
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
Typically it's the federal government pronouncements that twist the various Commissioners up. The only way a teacher's association gets local government twisted up is if you have stupid School Board members or Commissioners (I realize that in some instances that stating "stupid" is redundant).
The only job action teachers have is "work to rule". Maryland isn't like many states since public employee strikes are illegal. Contracts with teachers, by law, don't have to be honored. That's how Prince George's gets away with voiding teacher COLAs almost every year. What can the teachers do about it? Nothing, and usually the association officers would justify it. That way they kept their post association officer term job at the Central Office safe.
And even work to rule doesn't work since the contract has an "non-compensated additional duties as assigned" clause. That's how they got me to report an hour early for years to herd buses. And there's no turn down for it.
As I mentioned earlier, I had a higher take home at year 20 than I did at year 30. Some of that was the 2% increase in pension contribution. That was called "the teacher tax" because O'Malley didn't put it into the pension system but the General Fund. He also "borrowed" so much money from the pension fund, as he did from the Highway User Fund (which is why transportation projects with exception of mass transit nearly stopped during his eight years), that the State Retirement System went from having 105% of needed reserves for as far out as they wanted to project to 58%.
Hogan has started to fix that but has run into opposition in the Legislature.
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With that said, why did the Teachers Unions support O’Malley?
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
Because he made promises he had no intention of keeping. And O'Malley threatened to pull the slots money, which wasn't "new" money but "instead of" money. I kept telling people that was a bait and switch and ran into the will not to believe. You should know that the rank and file are not consulted on which candidate to support.
Bullsheet...........
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
Which part? Or are you talking out of your ass? Again.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
The rank and file of a union vote for their union leadership, are you telling me that teachers don't choose their own union leadership?
?? Then why on earth would you even be a part of it?? How do they own you?
The part when you stated “the rank and file are not consulted on which candidate to support”
Taliking about “talking out of your ass” you’ve mastered it in this thread.
Having seen first hand how PTAs work, I'm not convinced having teachers and parents on the Board would make any difference. I know fact certain they wouldn't include a parent like me, or a teacher like you. It's not going to be anybody who'll rock their boat or push for change. So while it sounds good, it wouldn't be what we think.
You know why: because he was a Democrat.
And NB is correct: the unions do not consult with mere teachers when it comes to their shenanigans - they campaign. It's political, and people in general (including teachers) fall for that crap.
NorthBeachPerso
Honorary SMIB
A little story, and it's not really related to this thread exactly.
Four years ago I attended the Maryland Municipal League conference in Ocean City (in fact I'm leaving for it in a few minutes). The Governor or Lt. Governor always attends. Well that year he sent the then Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown who was running for Governor.
Keep in mind that there are a couple thousand local elected officials there. Brown got up to speak (well, he's not a good speaker, or campaigner, and I have my own issues with him in any event) and made some jokes about Larry Hogan. The assembled multitudes roared and fell over themselves to shake his hand.
Well, come the next year and Hogan had won. He couldn't attend because of his cancer treatment so Lt. Gov. Rutherford filled in. Every mention of Hogan caused a standing ovation. Keep in mind that, with a few exceptions, these were the same people who a year before had laughed at the mere mention or thought of Hogan becoming Governor. People were falling over themselves to shake Rutherford's hand and to praise Hogan. Some of that was because he was able to throw some Highway User money back to the municipalities and Counties. Money O'Malley had cut by 95%.