I've spent a few days reading the facts about what happened in Rhode Island with the teachers there.
What the District did there was to fire every teacher. Every teacher, no matter what their history, commitment to students, qualifications, experience, track record, it did not matter.
They were all fired.
This is union busting plan and simple. This is unfair. More than that, it is bad for students.
What the board did was inexcusable. And I expected Arne Duncan to praise them, he is a fake reformer who mouths right wing talking points about schools.
But then there was the coup de grace.
Barack Obama praised this action.
Mr. Obama, I want to say this real clearly so there is no mistake.
F_____ you.
I am a teacher. I belong to a union. I have dedicated my personal and professional life to the service of students.
The people who were fired en masse are my brothers and sisters. Every teacher knows that this sort of group punishment is unfair and is bad practice because it does not get the results you seek.
Mr. Obama, you and I are done. Period. End of story. No discussion.
I will not vote for a Republican ever in my life. Or least I have not seen one thus far.
But I will never vote for you again. I made that mistake once, I will not repeat it.
I look forward to the time when you are no longer President. And given your lack of leadership on health care and the crappy bill we are left with, you probably deserve to be fired more than the teachers.
Here's a link to a starting point if anyone actually wants to find out what happened.
http://centralfallskidsdeservebetter...
Hide rate this if you want to. I've been a Democrat all my life and a union member for 25 years. I'm done with Obama, period, forever. And I don't much care if you ban my ID on dkos, I'm done with this clown and I thought I should say clearly, and publicly why. And this won't be the only forum I say it in. I've got email lists with hundreds of teachers on them and while the union leadership will protest quietly and gently, the rank and file teachers I've talked with are angrier than I am. I will work to ensure that my union does not endorse or fund any campaign of his again.
And it's because I'm a progressive that I say this and take these actions. I expect this from Bush/Reagan. I won't take it from a Democrat.