Today I am thankful for the teachers who, quite publicly, called me an "idiot" and a "moron" for positing that the United States is a Constitutional Republic*.
Sigh....
Their lack of decorum makes me wonder how they talk to kids that don't understand their lessons.
If this is how they talk to the kids, they don't deserve another $1.6 billion tax hike.
I'm not the only one. It seems as though self-described teachers like to call voters who don't cow down to the union line "morons."
One would think educated people would have a more professional vocabulary. I saw that word quite a bit today.
The teachers and their unions don't understand, do they?
The teachers claim to be striking for higher pay. Neither the voters nor the lawmakers get to decide teacher pay....that's between the unions and the school districts.
Striking during the school week, with little notice in my district, well.....that puts them at odds with their biggest supporters.....parents.
Um....I'd say I have something to fight but, in my heart of hearts, I know that any shot of passing that huge $1.6 billion income tax hike for PERA will perish with the walk-out.
It's called Initiative 86.
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/results/2017-2018/86Results.html
Sigh.....
I think the catchiest slogan to fight this obnoxious tax hike could be:
86 Initiative 86!
I'll still let my buddies know I'm itching for a fight if they need someone.
I LOVE fighting tax hikes.
Guess who usually comes up with the campaign slogans?
If anyone wants to steal this one, be my guest. I have several more.
*****
In 2000, Coloradoans passed Amendment 23, which guaranteed increased funding to public schools every year.
These increases are ongoing. Maybe I'll update the post with figures when I have more time.
Voters were promised that if we passed it, we wouldn't hear any more crying about teacher's wages or public school funding.
Now, the teachers are striking (even after getting an additional $150 million for next year).
The average public school teacher makes $52,000 per year.
Here are some links for your reading pleasure:
http://time.com/money/4900091/teachers-average-salary-underpaid-poll/
This article is from 2011 - teachers are making more now:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenmeyer/2011/12/22/the-teacher-salary-myth-are-teachers-underpaid/#5f2eb7023137
I just want to put this out into the collective unconscious: IF the union wants to win this gigantic income tax hike, they ought to try building rapport with the voters.
Letting your stooges gang up on anyone is fairly stupid, especially a parent.
I'd like to ask the Colorado Education Association, how much do you spend per vote? Is it worth acting like a bunch of lunatics to get what you want?
Why aren't your arguments rational? Why is everything based in emotion?
It is annoying.
Ganging up on anyone who disagrees is silly.
You taught me to stop trying to help teachers (right now, I am in the process of putting together an Amazon order for a teacher with cancer.....maybe I shouldn't help any teacher with supplies any more). It would seem that nothing a parent does is appreciated.
They want to hijack the taxpayers. I don't think they appreciate the efforts of parents.
Perhaps it's not worth my time trying any more.
Come on.....the idea that people with master's degrees should make more than $50,000 a year is laughable. It doesn't always happen that way. If we work in human services, the pay is often less because our clientele cannot afford to pay.
At least teachers get benefits.
Striking is fairly stupid, especially after public schools let kids ditch class to rally for gun control. I think parents have been rallied out.
It's frustrating that there is a leftist stance to the lessons.
I mean teachers push that guns are evil. Heaven help your kid if he or she bites a pop tart into a shape that even remotely resembles a gun.
When you point that out, you get hordes of teachers calling you a liar, at least I did. Either the teachers don't read the news or they are in denial. Either way, my mind about that stupid tax hike for PERA was made up today.
I don't want to support a bunch of rude people who are unable to look at their behavior in a rational manner. They do push a leftist agenda, even if they are in denial about it.
The unions give way too much money to Democrats.
There IS a leftist agenda. That is probably why they teach that the United States is a democracy.
It is a Constitutional Republic.
That is what truly irritates me. Teachers don't know our own history!
They are teaming up with the Democrats to push a liberal agenda. They are using kids to try to usher in an era of gun control that smacks at the heart of the second amendment.
Kids are easy to manipulate. They have never truly tasted freedom. I don't think they know what it means to strip away a Constitutional right. It's meaningless if you don't know what you're missing when it's gone.
Perhaps that is why the leftists use children to push an agenda.
Whatever.....
Go ahead.....
upset your biggest supporters....the parents
and irritate the voters.
Go ahead.....push your luck.
I promise I won't tell you that I told you so, when 86 is 86ed.
You are losing votes.
Only someone trying to give you a sporting chance will be honest enough to give you a nice warning.
If you're going to harass people for telling the truth, you may as well give up.
We really need to push for private school funding. If a group of teachers are calling someone like me a moron for pointing out that the United States is not a democracy, public schools have failed everyone.
I hate over regulation -but- I am literally surprised that the government doesn't force school districts to teach that the United States is a Constitutional Republic.
Utah did that. Isn't it sad?
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/7924-utah-to-require-teaching-that-us-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy
Wow.....no wonder kids don't understand civics. I was asked to become a teacher when I had to stop a speech to educate a guy handing out pocket constitutions as to why we have birthright citizenship in the United States.
Sigh....
Apparently, he didn't know that we had to pass the fourteenth amendment to guarantee that all of the former slaves born in the United States would be citizens.
I don't like the government so....I don't think I'd be a good teacher.
Still.....the emotional rhetoric is making it hard for teachers to be rational. That will be the undoing of any tax hike they may want passed this year.
If they want to be seen as professionals, they ought to act like professionals.
Knock it off.
Oh, and stop endangering children by taking them outside to protest. An eleven year old died during a public school promoted anti-gun protest in Texas on Friday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/us/texas-walkout-student-killed.html
Yeah....and they claim they don't have a liberal agenda.
Any moron can see through the lies of the teacher's union.
Love ya,
S.
* If you care, a democracy can only be a temporary form of government. Democracy, in it's essence is mob rule - it is a system where the majority makes ALL of the rules.
A constitutional republic will allow the majority to elect representatives who make the rules to the extent the Constitution allows. Private rights are protected by the overarching Consititution of the federal government as well as the individual state constitutions.
Democracies can only exist to overthrow an existing form of government: Democracies typically lead to Oligarchies (e.g. Ancient Rome).
On that note, the behavior I witnessed from self-described teachers is puzzling. They act as a mob. I would say that, on the whole, the teachers in Colorado are acting like bullies. I read more than twenty comments directed at me and only one tried to reason with me, five insulted me and the rest played the role of victims (e.g. such as 'how dare you say that about us?').
I'm wondering if this is why teachers are oblivious to bullying in their classrooms?
Bullying is typically behind the mass shootings.
Is the union responsible for this mindset? Or is it because it is a government organization?
The reason I say that is that in years passed, I witnessed a heck of a lot of bullying directed at teachers by administrators. I have pointed it out, time and time again. Nothing is done. Asshats retire but I can imagine that fresh abusers take their places.
The entire system is toxic.
I hate to say it but I am now more firmly rooted in the private school/home school camp. Perhaps a little competition will raise teacher pay.
I guess I need to buy an insurance policy in case my stance will lead to property damage. It's been known to happen.
It's frustrating.
There are only so many people I can try to convince that my house is protected by hellhounds.
Cheers!
NEXT DAY EDIT: Wow.....The CEA is dumber than I thought!
So....someone has been calling me and hanging up.
I traced the number to Heritage High School (6703).
The caller is a science teacher with a name similar to the guy who called me names on
Facebook.
I guess he wanted to continue being rude and showcase his stupidity.
This causes me to question whether or not this guy is emotionally stable.
He did help make up my mind for me.
I haven't yet connected with my activist buddies to ask if I can help take on Initiative 86.
I'm torn between calling Littleton Public Schools or just warning my friends about him.
I think that the kindest thing I can do is block his number.
If he leaves me a nasty message, I'd use it in a music production and post it to my Vimeo
account.
If I block him, he can't endanger his career. I can do that as an act of kindness.
On the other hand, if he calls me again, well....then I'll let my creative juices flow and come up with a video or musical production to showcase my musical talents. It is temping....
Okay....I'll block him to spare him the temptation of harassing me again.
On the bright side, he is a science teacher so he may not know that the United States is a Constitutional Republic. Even better, I think he'd be too educated to believe all the nonsense about me being a black magic sorceress who controls hellhounds and demons. I'd tell anyone else that all I need is a photo of a man, his wife and three kids to put together one heck of a generational curse.
He seems too educated to fall for that.
Here's a tip; if you don't block your number prior to engaging in hang-up calls, people can Google you and find out all sorts of nifty stuff you'd rather they not know.
So....I'll just say this......
Mr. J may want to do a little more digging on people before touching the telephone.
I could have a bit of fun with him.
He must be fairly ballsy.
Few people call to harass a red-headed hypnotist! Let alone someone who publicly talks about her love of guns and her disappointment in educators for trying to get them banned.
I guess he hasn't seen my political activities.
I have to ask myself if he'd have dialed me should I have been a man.
Probably not. He'd be luckier if he harassed a bloke.
I'm Irish-American and meaner any man I know.
He's not the first harasser. He won't be the last. Hopefully, for his sake, he won't get the same treatment that poor chap at the city got when he illegally walked into my home when I was in the shower - lol!
I'm sure he went blind from the sight.
I've been stalked by my ex's family since 1992. I've got cameras everywhere. I've got protection. As a former wanna-be musician, I record everything.
I like 9mms as they keep the stalker away.
Bring it, buddy.
I'd love to make him famous.
Bullies are never heroes.
The great part about it is that truth is stranger than fiction.
I'll be kind this time.
Mark Twain once said that redheads are descended from cats.
I'll give teacher guy one chance to go away before I pounce.
Maybe some day I'll write about what I studied in graduate school. In short, I researched how mythology and fiction influence the personalities of children.
When I was child, my favorite story was about Puss In Boots settling scores with thieves.
Can you see a thread there? If it doesn't explain my libertarian streak, I'm sure it explains my boot collection.
Life is a trip. Make yours a journey worth taking.
Love ya,
S.