Thread by @citizenstewart

American teachers' unions are waging war on charters and attacking school reform infrastructure. Key to their strategy is to create union assets in elected offices by either getting them elected, paying them off and/or ending their tenure as elected leaders when they disobey.

Their most effective message is to paint charters as unregulated hotbeds of fraud. It's a remarkable claim because while causing suspicion of charters, it also positions districts as exemplars of transparent institutions.

Of course, they are not.

goldwaterinstitute.org/article/the-sc…

In fact, school districts routinely suffer financially due to problems that range from simple budget mismanagement to outright fraud.

For example, a California district budgets $130 for a high school serving 1,600 kids, but cost almost doubles that.

eastbaytimes.com/2016/04/14/wes…

And, as much as charter critics make hay about charter leaders' salaries, they should clean up their own house...

investors.com/politics/colum…

St. Paul Public Schools' teachers' union ran a slate of school board candidates who won, then gave their superintendent walking papers. That required them to pay her nearly $800k just to walk away. They then ran a campaign saying schools were underfunded.

twincities.com/2016/06/21/st-…

As much as "progressives" bemoan Citizens United and the influence of private entities on our government, they turn a blind eye to BIG LABOR using their considerable money to override public opinion and push politicians to act against the will of the people. Parents want choice.

SEE: the statewide teachers' unions in West Virginia hold the state's schools hostage until they defeat school choice proposals. This goes far beyond fighting for better pay and better work conditions. It's more dangerous than that.

blog.acton.org/archives/10660…

As much as they present themselves as working people banding together for the common good, they ironically take control of our democratic elected bodies - especially school boards - and make the electeds do their bidding. It even works on "reform" boards.

huffingtonpost.com/entry/lausd-ch…

The use of "democratic" or "democracy" in union messaging is code for: "keep decision making in places where we control the process and outcomes." School boards are easy for unions to control because of low-turnout and weak (union-selected) candidates.

phillytrib.com/news/local_new…

And, they own higher offices too (watch out for 2020 as they attempt to secure a presidential asset).

SEE: California's new Gov. immediately commits to harassing charter schools on behalf of the state's public employees unions.

nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Cal…

SEE: Union-supported state rep in Illinois proposes abolishing the state's charter school board.

ilnews.org/news/schools/m…

But, the public isn't with them on this. Teachers fight school choice for an obvious reason - it creates competition for students between unionized and non-unionized schools.

But parents disagree with them. That's a problem unions solve with politics.

educationnext.org/public-support…

What unions will say is that they simply want charters to "play by the same rules as the public schools." That's benign.

Does that mean they want charter schools to get away with wasting $773 million on do-nothing programs like NYC public schools did?

nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…

Do unions want to level the playing field so charters can conspire with attorneys to deny an entire state's special education students of services they legally are entitled to access like Texas school boards did?

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Last year the East Bay Times ran a story with this subtitle: "California’s school bond system is dominated by well-funded private interests and plagued by a lack of oversight."

Is there a bill to correct the problem with California's corrupt boards?

eastbayexpress.com/oakland/cashin…

Let's be clear, there's nothing democratic about unions using an end run around the public so you can take control of governing bodies, then use them to take out their competition. That's just dirty.