Unleash the Bonoff!

I've mostly had positive responses to my post about how angry I am with Democratic Senator Terri Bonoff's proposal to remove teacher seniority as the primary consideration during layoffs.  To make sure I have the full picture, can I ask a question or two? Are we planning on laying off teachers en masse soon?  If so, why?  If not, then why are we wasting time on this?

I have met Senator Bonoff twice.  Both times it was very cordial.  I have no problem with a moderate Democrat, as half the time, I agree with them.  I love Congressman Tim Walz, and I understand Democrats who represent districts with a Republican lean need to be more on the moderate side, but starting to go after the teachers union isn't a moderate stance, it's a far right Republican stance.  I will not sit on the sidelines and say, "different strokes!"

I've had four people complain about my protest, and I can't tell if they're Bonoff apologists or anti-teacher zealots.  They all pretty much ran the same script, one I rebuffed easily, and now I'll share my counterpoints, so you can play at home!

Complaint #1 - I'm violating Senator Bonoff's freedom of speech!  Wha...?  No, her freedom of speech is fully intact, as is mine, which allows me to criticize her proposal.

Complaint #2 - I'm guilty of running moderates out of the party!  No, I have no problem with moderate Democrats, but what's moderate about what Senator Bonoff is suggesting?  Removing teacher seniority rules is the first step in dismantling the teachers union and statewide public education as a whole. You get rid of teacher seniority, and then someone proposes a new "test" to become the true standard of what is, and what is not, a bad teacher.  The test is not geared towards educating kids, or even fairly evaluating educators.  It's about punishing teachers, especially experienced ones, and blacklisting schools.  Then someone suggests getting rid of collective bargaining and mandatory union dues, while insisting it would be better if we allowed teachers to have a certificate instead of a degree, eventually neutering the biggest defender and advocate for quality education.  When statewide public schools are a mess, the GOP then starts to divert tax dollars to private schools in the form of vouchers, and to charter schools, which, according to the recent academic testing in the state, scored lower than public schools, and are run by private corporations/individuals.  Think I'm exaggerating?  It's only happened repeatedly in other states in this country, over and over and over again.  There is nothing moderate about what she is suggesting.

Complaint #3 - You're punishing good, young teachers by keeping all of the older, bad teachers on staff!  First, I'm calling you on the Loch Ness Monster/Sasquatch/Bad Teacher story.  These stories reek of lies, like a Canadian girlfriend.  The allegation:  A teacher is horrific (drunk, abusive, surfing the Internet all day) and the school has no recourse to get rid of them.  Trust me, they have methods to get bad teachers fired.  For goodness sake, one substitute teacher was just convicted in court of showing her students a horror movie instead of teaching them.  She was fired.  This conservative, made up story, a bad teacher who can never be fired, has to be created to justify the first step in dismantling the union.  It's a lie!

But I'll play your game, what percentage of teachers do the anti-seniority advocates think are "bad?"  Twenty percent, 30%?  You're a fool if you think so.  In my kid's elementary and junior high, I have yet to meet a bad teacher.  It's like the people who are for voter ID's, who insist there is far more voter fraud than there really is.  Truthfully, there are a few bad teachers, sure, but only a very small percentage, and no where near enough to validate the stripping of seniority from layoff considerations.

When seniority is disregarded in employment negotiations, you open the door to something really scary.  A school district might make the decision to get rid of 30 teachers, each with 20 plus years teaching experience, and replace them with fresh from school, new teachers, at a cost savings to the district.  This scenario has also happened, repeatedly.  It makes our schools worse when we take our most seasoned professionals and replace them with the cheapest.

And here is the best counterpoint to the young verses old misnomer; there is no guarantee you're replacing an experienced teacher with a better teacher, just a younger, far less experienced one.  They can't say one way or another if that new teacher will be better than the one they replace.

Complaint #4 - I think we should get rid of the seniority rules because I only care about the kids.  Oh, please.  I have three of them.  You think I don't care about what's best for kids?  When you pull out the "Kids" argument, you're no better than people who accuse anyone they disagree with as not caring for the troops, or for supporting the terrorists.  I'm for the kids too, including mine.  That's why I want the best, most experienced teachers teaching them.

What these made up problems really hide is the tremendous effort many teachers put forward to help students.  Considering the extreme dynamics which make up the standard public school classroom's student body, teachers do a incredibly hard job, sometimes with near zero parental support, many times spending their own money, and investing an obscene amount of time, while constantly being accused of failing.  The last thing teachers need is a hostile political environment.  Instead of asking what we can take away from the teachers, we need to be asking them, and the school districts, what do you need?

My stance is about keeping education in Minnesota strong.  We shouldn't buy into a political ulterior motive hidden behind the "bad teacher" lie. With all due respect to Senator Bonoff, I will not sit idly by why you propose the first step in destroying our public schools, with a smile on your face.