Staff Reports
Attention all freedom-loving Americans, especially those with a functioning memory! Gather ’round and let us recall the dark days of the “Red For Ed” strikes that plagued our great nation in 2018-19. These teacher unions, with their catchy hashtags and fancy red attire, managed to inspire statewide walkouts across multiple states. Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, and even the mighty West Virginia fell victim to their disruptive ways. The strikes went on for weeks, causing chaos and varying degrees of success, depending on your definition of success.
For Teachers' Unions, Strikes Are the New Normal https://t.co/FqcIVsa2kZ
— Heather O'Brien Pronouns: Told/You/So ? #? (@Heat005498) February 14, 2024
But little did we know that these strikes were merely a warm-up act for the grandest, most disastrous teacher union strike this country has ever witnessed. Yes, my friends, I’m talking about the COVID-19 pandemic. As the virus spread like wildfire across the globe, these unions wasted no time in demanding federal guidelines (a fancy word for dictating) on how schools should handle the situation. And just like that, schools began shutting down, one by one, leaving our children stranded at home.
March 12, 2020, will forever be etched in our memories as the day Ohio took the drastic step of statewide school closures. It was a domino effect, and by March 16, the majority of states had issued orders to close schools. Education Week reports that by March 25, every single public school building in the country was forcibly closed. The red states, those bastions of common sense, managed to reopen their schools in the fall, while the blue states, under the thumb of the powerful teacher unions, left their students stranded with virtual learning.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), deserves a special mention for her relentless opposition to reopening classrooms. She called anyone seeking a return to in-person education “reckless,” “callous,” and “cruel.” And who could forget Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, who declared that it was okay if our children didn’t learn their times tables, as long as they knew about “insurrection” and “coup”? These union leaders clearly prioritized politics over our children’s education.
To make matters worse, these unions shamelessly exploited the COVID-19 pandemic as history’s longest and largest strike. They shamelessly used the crisis to push for outrageous demands, like more funding, hazard pay, and even political concessions. Some unions even had to remind their teachers not to flaunt their vacation pictures while the schools remained closed. It was a brazen display of power, and our children paid the price.
Fast forward to today, and the dire consequences of these prolonged closures are becoming clear. The June 2023 release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed that our average 13-year-old had essentially lost 30 years of mathematical understanding. Reading levels also plummeted, leaving our children struggling to catch up. Yet, the unions continue to strike, with no regard for the damage they are causing.
Just recently, the Portland Association of Teachers in Oregon went on strike for a whopping three weeks. And let’s not forget the teachers in Newton, Mass., who held a strike and then had the audacity to organize a pub crawl during negotiations. Now, the St. Paul Federation of Teachers has authorized a strike set to begin on February 15. It’s clear that these unions are using our children as pawns in their political games.
It’s time for us, the parents and lawmakers, to stand up and say “no” to these unions. They are not accustomed to hearing this word because they have been allowed to run rampant for far too long. These strikes are illegal and must not be tolerated. As Albert Shanker, the former president of the AFT, once said, “When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.” It’s time to put an end to this madness and prioritize the education of our children over the whims of these power-hungry unions.
