Public school politicking and Proposition 8
Prop. 8 is the high profile ballot measure on the California ballot this November that would overrule the state supreme court’s decision earlier this year upholding the constitutional right to gay marriage.
Looks like public school teachers and school boards up and down the state are more interested in battling over the ballot measure than doing their jobs and educating students.
The 340,000-member California Teachers Association opposes the traditional marriage initiative and has donated $250,000 to the gay rights lobbying group fighting Prop. 8. Meantime, the first school district to take a stand–the Grossmont Union High School District — voted to support the ballot measure and many others are queuing up to weigh in on either side.
Don’t they have more job-related, education-related problems to worry about?
And aren’t teachers wondering why the deep-in-debt CTA keeps pouring their hard-earned dues money down the political drain instead of spending it on, I dunno, teacher/educational needs?
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Categories: Education, Proposition 8
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A teacher’s union worried more about gay marriage, social issues, and political correctness than teaching? That’s news? I thought it was the norm.
That’s why California education is at the bottom of the 50 states. They do everythin except provide an education.
As a teacher myself if my district ever does anything like this that is the day I quit and find a new job.
Well, instead of working on reducing income taxes, boosting the economy, fixing the budget, repairing lousy roads, improving education, Kalifornia has become a state that’s more interested in banning anything religious (logo repair for Los Angeles), taxing the “rich” so they can provide “fairness” and “equality” to those that don’t want to work for it, enabling immigration at any cost, spending until they drop, and making sure that they shove the gay agenda down everyone’s throad.
Priorities? What priorities?
Yet another reason I am home schooling my kids. The hubby is going to be stationed back in Cali in a couple of months and I am literally sickened at the thought of sending my children to a public school there (or anywhere, really.) They can take my taxes but they can’t have my kids.
This corrupt union is about as interested in educating students as much as CAIR is a peaceful advocacy group.
The CTA literally bankrupted itself a couple of years ago, fighting the ballot measure that would have increased the number of years a teacher had to work to gain tenure…an increase from 2 years to 5 years! NO other job on the planet is as secure as a California teacher with 2+ years of teaching under their belt.
Total sham.
test,
see-dub, are all comments turned off on Mahdi torture page?
I was talking to one of my coworkers about this today. He doesn’t have a problem with the gays getting married.
I asked him, “If two men or two women can get married where do you decide to place a limit on this?”
How about if the guy next door wants to marry his goat is that ok? Of course he thought my reasoning was silly but it still stands, you start the slippery slope and it is all down hill after that.
On the other hand though I can also say the heck with it, let em get hitched and TAX the hell out of them just like the rest of us. Mind you I have ZERO desire to see two guys slobbing each other down in public. Save it for your own place.
post..# 5
Homeschooling is the way to go in CA..
Find a good support group-join HSLDA-
and God’s Speed
Where are all these we keep hearing about that want to marry their goats?
You know, my little sister is a second year teacher in the Baltimore City Schools. She is extremely intelligent. She graduated at the top of both her high school and college classes, yet she has fallen into the trap these unions have set for people like her. She is hopelessly liberal and completely misinformed.
I have no doubt that she is an excellent teacher, as I’ve never seen her do anything poorly in her life (except spell – she can’t spell worth a damn for some reason).
She can’t keep up with the requirements placed on her by state tests because of what she is given to work with – her kids are hopelessly behind because of slacker teachers at lower levels and crappy parents (or, more often, parent). But these teachers never look to themselves as the problem. It’s always the state test they “have to teach to,” or the lack of school funding, or the crummy facility. It’s NEVER about taking ownership of a situation and having a sense of personal responsibility.
She also spews a bunch of lib politics when prompted – pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, etc. – but has no answers for simple arguments for individual liberty. (Why should I be forced to send my money to the government to subsidize health benefits for the gay spouse of government employee X when that violates some of the basic tenets of my religion?)
Teachers’ unions are bad, bad, bad news. They’re leading a decent-sized portion of this generation of young adults down a path to destruction. They are their own self-fulfilling prophecy.
I saw a news article a few months ago about a guy who married a dog. Was in India though.
Perhaps a better question: If two men can marry, and two women can marry, why can’t two men and one woman marry? Why can’t two women and one man marry? Or three dudes? Or three women? Or seven women?
(Soon enough, the city of San Francisco will go bankrupt supporting the healthcare benefits of Gavin Newsom’s cabinet members’ harems.)
LOLstone silenceDidn’t we just read something about HELEN THOMAS
Lots of good posts today MM and CW.
Wish I had more time to read them all…
I definitely agree with you that both sides need to focus more on teaching our children. May one man/one woman marriage rule at the ballot box.
(Help Stop Comment Abuse – 4 or less -
ain’tis not such a mess)It seems like every time a vote comes around in the state of CA there is at least one “…teachers need more money” issue to vote on. For the last uncountable number of vote-years in this state we have heard over and over again how this bond measure or that one is for (and the magic words are) “…your kids and the schools”.
To get the lottery passed, the State sold everyone a bogus bill of goods saying that 100% of the lottery income in this state was originally supposed to be (the magic words again) “for the schools”. Now nobody has any idea how much of it actually ends up doing what it was supposed to do.
The people (libs) of this state fall for it every time. Its a given here that if you want an initiative to pass all you need are the magic words, “for the kids and the schools”, and the lib-sheep fall all over themselves to pass it.
Odd how these monies never end up going where the teachers unions promise.
Isn’t there anybody with the authority, initiative and stones to investigate?
I didn’t how bad it was in California until years after my daughters graduated from public school. All three of them were in the top 2% in classes over 500. They knew very very little of the U.S. constitution and nothing of the Federalist Papers.
They do now!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, your reasoning is silly. What is under discussion is two consenting adults. Not goats, children or pet rocks.
And as for a slippery slope to polygamy… Extending marriage to polygamists would require massive legislative reform that gay marriage does not. Eg, if a man marries two women, are the women legally married to each other? What happens if he dies? What if he wants to marry another woman and one wife agrees and one doesn’t? Can one party leave without ending the entire arrangement?
But yeah, the teachers’ union should mind its own business…
This is why I no longer support the public school system, and haven’t for a long, long time.
It stopped being about “education” years ago.
Can you imagine the level of indoctrination should Chairman Maobama win? Yikes.
The union can donate whatever it wants, but Prop 8 will pass in anyway.
It amazes me that the union giving to a pro-gay group like this is even legal.
It’s the unions that have really helped to destroy our education system. (that and parents who don’t care about what is going on at school as long as their kids are out of their hair for a few hours a day). The unions today don’t look out for the interests of the kids or even the teachers. They just want to find more ways to line their own pockets.
Just shows who’s educating your kids. Not just in California either, methinks.
We have to look at the bright side.
Every dollar the teachers union spends on ballot issues is a dollar they won’t be spending on helping a socialist get elected.
Very good point and the only bright thing about what this union did.
hmmmm, can’t decide if that would be the best thing ever.. or the worst thing ever..
It’s nice to know that teachers have their priorities straight.
As a teacher, I thoroughly hate unions. They make life miserable for substitute teachers. There’s no competition in teaching. Once a teacher gets tenure, they’re set for life. There’s no innovation and no willingness, on the part of many teachers, to do the best job possible. Teachers are like social workers, they’re taxpayer funded, and continue to get paid even for doing a horrendous job.
I must say… in all the worry about those poor Lesbians and Gays not being able to marry, the teacher’s union has failed to realize that refashioning society in the shape you want doesn’t necessarily mean bright, competitive, independent-minded students. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
Yeah, what do think this is? The middle east???
It should be a state decided issue not a federal one and it is not a civil rights issue because gays have the same right to marry anyone of the opposite sex they want to. he he
Kevin from Ohio. I am willing to bet that your sister knows very little about the practices of homosexuality. If she is as bright as you say, then I suggest you provide some statistical information. It is fairly easy to get studies on homosexuality and homosexual practices on the internet, and contrary to the gay lobby, the studies are pretty straightforward.
Just one example, the average homosexual guy has over 500 different sexual partners during his lifetime – and 25% have in the thousands. The result of such sexual license is an increase in disease, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse – and a lifespan that is about 20 years shorter than the average heterosexual in a committed marriage.
Unions should be about employee and employer relations. When they start political actions like this, they are out side thier bounds and should be shut down.
Not really, this already happens when a male has more than one ex-wife. And this reasoning does not extend to incestual marriage. They would be 2 consenting adults.
grivellia said “Extending marriage to polygamists would require massive legislative reform that gay marriage does not. Eg, if a man marries two women, are the women legally married to each other? What happens if he dies?”
Extending marriage places in doubt any and all legal relationships between people. For example, what would you define as pedophilia? – can a 60 year old man, as in the case of arranged marriages in Muslim countries, marry a 5 year old girl? The homosexual community is youth oriented – see NAMBLA – and the opportunity for a 40 year old man to “marry” a 16 year old “boy” would be uppermost. Marriage and family are the fundamental building blocks of any successful society. You play games with them at your peril.
In fact many of the same arguments used to strike down gay sex laws apply directly to polygamy. These are “loving” relationships between concenting adults. This is the pandoras box that gay marriage has opened. Remember the standard is a loving relationship between concenting adults.
The California Teachers Association has done much worse without giving an open donation.
For at least 10 years they have consistently tried to prevent the Boy Scouts of America from having meetings in public schools, claiming that the Scouts discriminate against homosexuals.
Shame on them for joining with a small bunch of militant homosexuals to keep young kids from having some healthy fun.
The pedophilia argument is also an issue because it depends where you are for example in europe, the age of consent is as low as 13. Thats right THIRTEEN. link here
My family and I live within two hundred yards of two Kalifornia
indoctrination centerspublic schools. We homeschool and my kids will never see the inside of those buildings as long as I have breath in my body. Homeschoolers are among the most ardent critics of the public school system and the homosexual agenda so Kalifornia has responded by trying to take away our rights to homeschool and force our children into their system. I will quit my job and abandon my overpriced house and leave this nuthouse before I comply.7thson: Come to Utah. You can get a 4 bedroom house for less than 200,000 and the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country. If they tried to ban homeschooling here I suspect there would be a civil war of some kind. Oh and in state tution at SLCC is about 1200 a semester.
Who says they’ve failed to realize this? Bright, competitive, independent-minded students are too difficult to mentally control.
Do a little digging and you’ll discover the public schools are doing exactly what the powers that be want them to do — creating a generation of unquestioning drones. Start with the writings of former NY Teacher of the Year John Taylor Gatto and go from there.
Ah, now I remember: The Cloning of the American Mind. That was the book whose name I was having trouble remembering when I typed my previous post. Check that one out along with Gatto to see what the real goals of the modern American “educational” system are.
When I first started reading the book several years ago, I almost put it down. It seemed too fantastic, too “out there,” too tinfoil hat-ish. Except one of the examples cited in chapter 1 involved a “test” (more like a survey of attitudes and such) administered to PA high school students in the 1980’s. I went to high school in PA in the 1980’s, and I remember being given that “test.”
Mostly posting over at D.U. and Daily Kos.
starlightwoman said (#2):
Mississippi is at the bottom, right next to a bunch of other red states that under-fund education. California is not bad. They’ve spent the past five years raising standards and putting in tougher testing.
sonofdy said (@29):
A union is a private organization, like a company. Companies can donate, why not unions?
LGM: Because unions are supposed to represent thier members in labor disputes not social issues. Unions are good for solving labor disputes. They should stay there.
**WARNING: Hell just froze over**
I am about to (*gulp*) affirm something written by little green man:
These results are because of No Child Left Behind. This IS working, for all the bad press it gets.
Because California is not a right-to-work state. To my knowledge, no one forces shareholders to invest in a particular company. If you disagree with the causes and politicians supported by say, AT&T, you are free to dump your stock and buy into Sprint instead.
Companies do not force their employees to contribute to political campaigns under the guise of dues-/membership fees; unions do, and will often retaliate against non-compliant members who fail to “contribute” with the loss of employment-/certain benefits or privileges.
And the CTA adds insult to injury by assessing the union dues of its members to pay for a particular cause. As in ‘05 when they bankrupted themselves to defeat the measure I mentioned in #6 above, they tacked an extra $60 onto the dues to pay for their political pursuits. The BAD teachers reaped the rewards paid for by all the GOOD teachers.
I hate unions.
But, when they get card-check, they become flush with cash when those currently nonunion schools finally come into the fold.
Under former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Republican, KY increased spending on eduction by 25% every year and with no results; according to KET, test scores remained virtually flat for every year spending increased. Now, despite his campaign promises to improve education in KY with more funding, under Democrat Gov. Steve Beshear, education spending has been CUT by ~12.5% and local school and college systems are scrambling to reduce their budgets to avoid mass teacher lay-offs. So much for blue/red state Democrats’ ideas and promises on improving education!
Vicki (#45) — Now dear, cut them a break. After all, 2005 was a busy, expensive year for the CTA. They also came out against Proposition 75, which would have prohibited unions from using a member’s dues for political causes without that member’s consent. Imagine if employees could decide they didn’t want their dues used for politicking. Anarchy, I tell ya!
At the time Proposition 8 was circulated for signatures, the California State Supreme Court had not issued their atrocious ruling. Proposition 8 is an amendment to the State Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In fact, until the State Supreme Court decision, the ballot description was going to say exactly that. However, the State Attorney General’s Office (AG is Jerry Brown, didn’t we get enough of him in the 70s??) changed the ballot description so that it says that Propostion 8 will eliminate the “right” of same sex couples to marry.
When Proposition 61 was on the ballot, I posted pro Proposition 61 signs on my front lawn which were eventually stolen, as were those of many other supporters of that proposition. I am expecting the same to occur this year. And the opponents of Proposition 8 would likely claim that they are more “tolerant” of opposing viewpoints.
Should Proposition 8 pass (and I’m becoming more confident that it will), there will be a legal tangle regarding those same sex couples who were “married” because the State Supreme Court didn’t have the sense and the patience to delay their ruling until after the November election.
It’s no secret that the unions run Sacramento.
Raising standards and tougher testing is a good start but they still have to perform to meet the higher goals. According to this source California has been declining, not improving, over the past 4 years:
Proposition 8 is another battle to prevent the destruction of the family. I went door to door and had a sign out on my front lawn during proposition 61. It was just a small skirmish in the war.
Proposition 8 will be another battle which I think we will win, but again it is still just a battle. The Gay lobby are like terrorists, in that they will not give up their agenda. Proposition 8 is just one front of the war.
Some of the other fronts are judicial rulings, public schools, mass marketing on TV and blockbuster movies, etc. All designed to destroy the nuclear family of one man and one woman.
In the public schools, students are taught that homosexuality is natural (how they reconcile that position with Darwinism I’m not sure). The most popular song our youth is listening today is “I kissed a girl.” Catchy tune, and easy to memorize lyrics.
It is a war that the enemy does not admit defeat and the enemy will attack on all fronts at the same time.
In a few years after proposition 8 passes (assumption), the gay lobby will submit a counter proposition. Amendments to the California constitution can be put forth by any advocacy group.
Time is on the gay lobby side. When the present generation of children with today’s agenda driven public
educationpropaganda reach voting age, how will they vote?