Joe Lieberman: Hypocrite of School Choice

I can't believe this is still an argument. If it wasn't for the power of the National Teachers Union which is only rivaled by the other two public union powerhouses, The International Brotherhood of Police Officers and The International Association of Fire Fighters, this would have been settled ages ago.

But I was reminded of a bit of hypocrisy just now when I read an article by none other than Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman advocating for, of all things, school choice.

And I had to laugh.

NOW, he's the advocate for school choice...

Again!

Oh, old Joe WAS a champion for the school voucher system right up until the moment he was picked to be Al Gore's running mate for the Presidency back in 2000.

Then nothing, not a word about it was mentioned and nobody asked.

But I remembered.

Joe Lieberman remained in the Senate for 14 years after Al Gore's failed run for the presidency but until now we have not heard anything from the former senator advocating for school choice.

Since that time the voucher system was instituted in the District of Columbia and working well until the Teacher's Union finally managed to squash it, forcing the school kids back to their sub-standard district schools. They could have used a champion then. Now , with nothing to lose, nothing on the line and perhaps looking for some sort of relevancy in a new age, good old reliable Joe Lieberman is again advocating school choice.

After 19 years of silence, is anybody going to ask, "Where you been all this time, Joe?"

Fox news won't be asking that question, you can bet on that. They ran the article. What gall this guy has! Even for a former pol and lawyer. This sudden rekindled interest makes me wonder at what angle he's trying to play. Perhaps we'll find out in the near future.

School Choice

This is the system where each family gets a voucher for the money they pay each year towards their school system or per student funds allocated to each child at any rate that then can be put that towards a different school of their choosing. The money follows the child. 

Two-Tiered Education System

It has been argued that the voucher system will create a two-tiered school system and allow the wealthy to pull their kids from public school or that there will be a migration from public schools. 

The wealthy have already pulled their kids out of public school. THEY have the money to pay twice. Once for the sub-standard public school they don't use and again for the private school they actually send their kids to.

It's the poor people who can't afford to send their kids to an alternate or private school who get the short end. They can only afford the sub-standard.

Without a school voucher program to even the field, the people without the means are also without the choice. The lack of school choice hurts THEM, the people who can't afford to send their kids any place else.

The lack of competition for the monopoly of public schools means no challenges and no innovation or improvements. They never have to pay for their mistakes. Only the children will.

So here's hoping Joe sticks with it the second time around since School Choice was and is a good idea. Introducing competition into the educational marketplace will make all the schools stronger. They will either change or be emptied out.

But Joe Lieberman could have been fighting for this change for the last 19 years but abandoned his principles for the chance at glory and fame.

He thinks everybody's forgotten it.

We Can't Afford Public Unions Anymore

Public employees should not be allowed to unionize. It’s that simple. If people don’t like it, they shouldn't enter public service. Public service does not make money, it is a service. When they bargain for raises and benefits, they are bargaining not for profits, like a private company, but taxpayer money. They are bargaining for OUR money.

This isn't a case of labor vs. management like with private unions. The difference between private unions and public unions is apples and oranges.

We are not talking about the Mollie McGuires vs the Coal Companies and the Pinkertons here. The Mollies didn't get their heads clubbed in just so a teacher doesn't have to pony up a $20.00 co-pay like the rest of us have to. Public servants are not gasping in coal mines for want of proper breathing equipment because the robber baron company boss won't spring for it. There is no line to be drawn from one to the other.

Public service was never a big career move. It used to be something people went into for the hours and the benefits, not the wages themselves because public servants never used to get much since everybody in those days understood it was taxpayer money. But somewhere down the line and it really snuck up on all of us, the public sector’s wages really took off in a big way.

People who work in the public sector have always been treated well and have worked in good environments. Now they are treated very well, enjoying rights, privledges and pay beyond most of the people who pay their salaries. Who still gets a pension these days?

The Public Unions use the money collected in dues to support sympathetic political candidates and then sit across the table from them when it's time to negotiate a new contract. The town I live in, Obscurity, Massachusetts, at one time had three of the five Selectman positions held by town employees. They have recently disbanded the Selectman in favor of a panel of 10 District Councilmen.

And never is it more evident of the sky high money some of these people are getting than the public school system. A second year science teacher can get over $50,000.00 a year! Some are making $70,000. That’s with 3 months off, full paid medical and generous sick time. Oh sure, they’re teaching your kids, creating inquisitive minds blah, blah, blah but they’re also making more than that kid’s parents. You know, the people who’s taxes go to pay that salary? Yeah, those parents.

The Teachers Union is the third most powerful union in the United States. Second only to the Police and Firemen’s union, the “Brotherhood”.  The Public School budget is the largest budget the town has to deal with, often amounting to over 50% of the town's budget and in some towns in Massachusetts, closer to 60%. That’s a big deal.

Every increase, every benefit boost and every pension “sweetener” comes out of a taxpayer's pocket. That money could have gone to their kids tuition or to support any of the local businesses but it can't because it's been taken.

The pension liabilities for these communities is more than any of these towns can pay going forward. The contracts must be rewritten but it’s just a case of town employees negotiating with other town employees so what the union wants, it’s gotten up to this point.

But there’s a new wrinkle. We’re BROKE! There are less working people to pay the exorbitant taxes to keep the public unions in silk undershorts.

Wisconsin’s Teachers Union has 98,000 teachers in it. That’s a hell of a voting block and if they want to vote themselves another raise, they most certainly have the votes. Many cities and towns are under the heel of these Kleptocrats. They enjoy more wage and salary benefits than the people who pay their salaries and in the case of the Teacher’s Union in Central Falls, Rhode Island, WAY more. Central Falls had a median income of $22,000.00, one of the poorest in the state. Yet the teachers have been making $72,000.00 to $78,000.00 on average. Plus the school was getting a failing grade for educating its students. When the principal asked that these overpaid lunch-suckers spend more time with the students, they complained and asked for more money. After all, they deserved it, right?

That’s the situation in a nutshell. Public Unions are out of control and call people “Radicals” for wanting to stop the crazy spending that is crushing the taxpayer and local businessmen alike.

No more. Public Unions are killing the towns. You want big money? Start a business. A PRIVATE business. No more living fat off of the taxpayer. We’ve got better things to do with our money than throw it down a public RAT HOLE.