Obama effigy hung at RI school with fired teachers

[Freddie Stubbs]

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. – A teacher at a failing school where he and all his colleagues are being fired hung an effigy of President Barack Obama in his classroom, apparently in reaction to Obama's support of extreme measures to ensure accountability in schools.

The teachers union on Thursday condemned the effigy, discovered Monday in the teacher's third-floor classroom at Central Falls High School, saying it was wrong and cannot be condoned under any circumstances.

The effigy was found in the teacher's classroom by Superintendent Frances Gallo, Rhode Island Department of Education spokeswoman Nicole Shaffer told The Associated Press. Shaffer said the department would not have any further comment.

Gallo told the AP on Thursday evening that the foot-tall Obama doll that she saw Monday was hung from its feet from a white board and was holding a sign that said, "Fire Central Falls teachers."

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100318/ap_on_re_us/us_entire_school_fired

[Peacetrain]

1. Yeah that is going to get you a lot of backing.. what a NIMROD that guy is

[SkyDaddy7]

3. Obviously he is not who I think...

Should be teaching. I will probably get kicked for saying this here on DU.

[Peacetrain]

4. Anyone who would support the hanging of someone in effigy for a political statement

well, you have to know where that kind of person stands politically.. probably throwing dollar bills at a person with Parkinsons mentality.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Look just below.

That post should be a tombstone-able offense, imo.

[Bobbie Jo]

51. +1000

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

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[depakid]

5. What did the President expect when he took a swipe at them before the US Chamber of Commerce?

Garlands?

My bet is that there are a lot of teachers who privately hold the same sentiments as this guy expressed.

Think about it.

Not exactly the most effective way to gain trust and support from a key constituency on the eve of the release your education plan.

[Peacetrain]

8. I do not even know how to address this.. Can you for a second

imagine what this teacher just said to any minority students they have under their wing or heel..

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[depakid]

13. Dude's obviously not getting his job back after this- but that's not the point

Obama took aim at these folks involved in a local dispute. It was bound to piss a lot of teachers off- and that one of them went over the top shouldn't surprise anyone in America these days.

And since you mention it, what was it that Obama was saying to these kids while pandering to the Chamber?

Suffice it to say, it was impolitic- and bound to provoke the sorts of reactions that we've seen on this board and elsewhere.

[vaberella]

25. If a teacher thinks this was appropriate to anyone else who agrees this was appropriate.

I'm happy this teacher was fired----because I don't want to know what he would be teaching children. That's some example he set.

[DevonRex]

45. And now I can't help but wonder about the other teachers there, too.

Not saying they're all like him, but his actions have made me take a step back for sure.

[kiva]

62. Spoken like a true rumor mongerer -

"I can't help but wonder..." followed by "Not saying that..."

[DevonRex]

63. Oh bullshit. nt

[kiva]

69. Perhaps you prefer the term 'smear campaign':

A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with a stigmatized group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smear_campaign

I do not support what this teacher did, but implying that the other teachers who were fired had done something wrong is a nasty attempt to smear them - and the bullshit is yours.

[Vattel]

99. Exactly

[The Genealogist]

74. Nothing like a little guilt by association

:eyes:

[DevonRex]

42. Seems to me that the teacher probably deserved to be fired if he thought this was a good

thing to do. Who knows what other disgusting things he has done and taught in his classroom.

[Name removed]

120. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Freddie Stubbs]

129. Perhaps he expected teachers to teach their classes in a racially sensative manner

Apperently those expectations were too high.

[freddie mertz]

7. Obviously the symbolism of this is appalling.

Then, of course, Obama did endorse the mass firings that cost this man his job.

I fear this as a sign of political fracturing to come in the wake of all this.

The Democratic Party constituency may be fragmenting again, for the first time, really, since the 60s.

I hope the admin. will back away from endorsing this sort of thing.

It's like throwing gasoline on a raging fire.

[CTLawGuy]

108. yeah

"Not sayin they shoulda lynched him, but he shouldn'ta looked at that white girl funny." :eyes:

[impik]

9. But he's a union member, so he can do anything and it'll be okay.

Not only that i'm glad he was fired, i hope he'll never find a teaching job again. Asshole.

[Gman]

11. You are ignorant of how unions work, aren't you?

But you still run your mouth and slam unions. Hit and run right wing tactics.

[impik]

12. Clearly you're having troubles understanding what you read. I guess your teachers were

not great either.

And obviously you did not forget the ever-so-predictable use of "Right wing talking points" bullshit.

Oh well. Have a good life.

[Lerkfish]

18. actually your post was self-contradictory

you claim he can get away with anything because of the union, and then admit because of the union he was fired en masse before this incident.

so, which is it? the union is all powerful and the union is powerless.


I wonder about your teachers. you obviously would not have survived on the debate team.

[Ten Bears]

50. I have to agree with the others.

Your post was contradictory, inflaming, and frankly, ignorant.

[krawhitham]

112. +1

[freddie mertz]

14. Hating on the unions.

Ronnie, is that you?

[Lerkfish]

17. Don't you get it? what happened is a life sentence economically to these people

who will hire a teacher fired for being incompetent (as the adminstration claims)? And labeled as such nationally?

don't worry, none of these teachers will be teaching again.

what a victory against the teacher's union! Hurray says the union busting conservative assholes.

[Freddie Stubbs]

19. Actually, the school district is planning on hiring back up to 50% of the teachers

But this guy has probably just blown his chance. Whoopsie!

[Lerkfish]

24. at a lower pay, of course. if they were so incompetent as to be fired, why rehire them?

because its a union busting action, is why.

[msanthrope]

64. Can you source the assertion that a rehired teacher will make less pay? n/t

[dsc]

110. you have no idea what they are planning to do

they are permitting the teachers to reapply but they could hire zero of them back for all you know. The most they can hire is just below 50%.

[Phx_Dem]

32. Well, at least one teacher has just assured that no one will hire his ass.

Who the fuck is going to hire a teacher who hung an efficy of the President of the United States? Forget about the fact that he got fired for poor performance. Good luck finding a new new, asshole. You did this to yourself.

[Lerkfish]

37. and you know he was fired for poor performance why?

this was a union busting move, pure and simple. The proof is offering to hire 50% of them back at lower pay.

[Phx_Dem]

56. They were all fired for refusing to follow mandated cirriculum at one of the

lowest performing schools in the state. Clearly, the whatever the teachers/administrators had been doing wasn't working and they weren't willing to accept the changes mandated by the Education Commission. They have no one to blame but themselves and their union leaders.

The moron who hung the effigy is obviously an example of what's wrong at that school.

If I refused to follow policy as mandated by the company I work for, I'd be out of job too. And if I was a "low-performer" who refused to follow company policy, I'd deserve to lose my job. Just like them.

"Under threat of losing their jobs if they didn’t go along with extra work for not a lot of extra pay, the Central Falls Teachers’ Union refused Friday morning to accept a reform plan for one of the worst-performing high schools in the state.

Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” for the situation, saying union leaders “knew full well what would happen” if they rejected the six conditions Gallo said were crucial to improving the school. The conditions are adding 25 minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer. "

http://www.projo.com/education/content/central_falls_teachers.1_02-13-10_A8HEI7Q_v61.3a65218.html

[Lerkfish]

59. you're confusing insubordination with incompetence

thank god you're not a teacher yourself.

and, if you'll note, those conditions all required the teachers to work longer hours without additional pay. Since this was unilaterally dictated without union approval, they had no choice but to refuse without bargaining or arbitration.

I'm guessing you've never been in a union, either.

[Phx_Dem]

70. No, the fact that the school was failing shows the teachers were not

good at their jobs. Incompetence is your word. I would say they were not good teachers -- whether that stems from incompetence, laziness, neglect, or stupidity, I do not know. The fact that these "failing" teachers refused to follow mandated changes in an effort to help the school get back on track, tells me their firings were well-deserved.

Good ridance to them.

And the fact that you would defend a teacher who hung a President (any President!) in effigy, tells me all I need to know about you. Feel free to hire this poor put-upon teacher to teach your kid, or refer him to your friends.

[Lerkfish]

79. where to start, there are so many things wrong in your post

1. I wasn't defending his actions in the teacher's lounge with the effigy. Show me where I have.
2. you've completely ignored the union issues I've brought up.. as if I didn't say them -- are you afraid to?
3. There are many reasons why a school can be having trouble. Your presumption is that it was the teachers... I myself don't know the answer but I think its more complex than that. But hey, you've already been judge, jury and executioner on this guy, so I can't reason with you anyways.
4. the mandated changes, as I've said, all involve more work with no increase in pay. Any worker would have a problem with just accepting that.
5. You last line is repugnant on so many levels. I do not know this guy, you do not know this guy.. but to make a judgement of ME based on his actions tells me all I need to know about YOU.

[Kalun D]

122. Bullship

It was Union busting plain and simple. It was an impossible school in one of the poorest districts in the state. No child's behind left had just enough funding for the bush connected testing companies but none for actual school improvements

this school was really only failing in math scores so fire all the (Union) teachers for a 5% failure rate, and Obama publically supports that and his secretary of education is anti Union, big surprise.

Oh yeah what this teacher did was wrong but I can understand it, bush policies supported by Obama just screwed his life over. Obama is a corporate sell out, and has been since day one. He got into office with support of the teachers Unions and now just like all his other working class constituency, he's given them the royal stab right in the back.

This is just another part in the ongoing class warfare, the busting of the last big Union in the USA. Wave your quality of life goodbye. With the corporatist sell-out Obama at the helm of the DLC, American workers are headed for the ditch.

Good luck getting the teacher's vote in 2012 Mr Obama, you corporate tool.

[msanthrope]

67. Can you source the lower pay assertion? Have offers been made? n/t

[dionysus]

21. this has nothng to do with him being in a union. he just freaked out. come on.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

31. I think the point is that there those here that will support anything done in the name of unions.

With no attempt to even determine if they're right or not.

[dionysus]

38. well, yes, i agree with you on that point.

:hi:

[Lerkfish]

26. Just pointing out: DU, the big tent where its ok to hate unions, gays, liberals and women's rights

be pro war and pro Gitmo and Patriot Act....

and still call yourself a democrat.

makes one shake ones head.

[dionysus]

40. why, what a splendid strawman you've just made!

:rofl:

[Lerkfish]

57. not really, I've witnessed all those positions taken by various posters here.

if you haven't, then we're not reading the same threads.

I wasn't saying that single poster was guilty of all those stands, just saying all those stands exist here in the big tent.

[spoony]

72. They aren't even being subtle anymore!

:wow:

[CBR]

81. You are right... things are not so subtle anymore.

Namely, some of the motivation behind the opposition to the President.

[spoony]

85. Wrap yourself in that warm, smeary denial if it makes you feel better.

It's not like many of you could become less rational, lots have been calling Obama's critics racists for months behind that nebulous "some" wishy-washiness. If that's really the last foxhole you've got, go ahead and hide in it. It doesn't change the real and costly mistakes Obama is making or the angry sense of betrayal they are arousing. Nor does it sufficiently mask the anti-progressive stances he and his supporters are now actively taking.

[CBR]

86. Hiding behind progressivism does not mask the racist motivations

behind many of the attacks on him. If you disagree with his stance on education, unions etc... fine. Supporting this act, in the classroom, does not reflect those disagreements.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

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[Jennicut]

16. The guy forgets that he is teaching children and that sort of thing effects them and confuses them.

The firings probably were upsetting enough to them, this was a classless way to deal with it. I have worked with lots of kids over the years (have a degree in psych) and they are very influenced by higher authority figures, much more then people think. Protesting the firings is one thing. The argument I make is not about that. It is about showing children a black President hanging as an effigy. Not okay under any circumstances. There are far more effective ways to protest. This sort of thing just muddies it all up and makes this guy look bad when he might have had some legitimate reasons to be upset. And my husband belongs to a union so I am not busting on a union member for no reason. It is just unconscionable when you teach kids to do that sort of thing. Look at the tactics some right wing teachers take when teaching kids. We hate that here.

[scheming daemons]

20. Acts like this actually help prove Obama/Duncan's point to the masses

This guy is a bad teacher. This action proved it.

Young people are watching. What he did affects them.


He should never teach anywhere, ever.... and those that agree with him shouldn't either.



He proved the point. Bad teachers should be fired. This guy was a bad teacher.

[depakid]

22. Bashing important constituencies is a very promising strategy for getting Democrats elected...

during a redistricting year...

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. Racists are not an important constituency

[depakid]

34. This isn't racism- much as you'd love to try to equivocate the matter

in order to rile people up.

[DevonRex]

46. Look buddy, if you hang a black guy in effigy, it's racism. No matter what the reason is. nt

[Vattel]

104. The teacher did not hang Obama in effigy, did he?

He hung a foot-tall doll from a whiteboard by its feet. It's not clear at all that the message was "Onama should be hung by his feet for firing us."

[spoony]

87. They haven't just tried to equivocate, they've succeeded

One can only tolerate being called a racist so many times in one thread, and I can only assume I'll be likened to Hitler next so I'm out of this steaming mess they've made.

[dave29]

60. hanging people in effigy is never OK.

regardless of how your district is drawn. That it happened in a class room is simply unconscionable. But I guess I should "expect it" because action was taken at this school.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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[KingFlorez]

27. This person should be accessing their teaching skills instead of assigning blame

If these people were really great teachers, would they really have been fired all at once? Somehow, I don't think so.

[Kdillard]

30. Exactly. All that happened was they proved why they should not be teaching.

[Spazito]

29. Absolutely disgusting behavior by any teacher...

and adding to it:

"...which was hung in an area of the school that's used for the English as a second language program."

I am sure it was hung there for convenience and no other reason. :sarcasm:

Appalling, appalling behavior.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

33. Everyone posting in favor of the guy with the effigy needs to be banned immediately.

This is not behavior that should be condoned on this website, and those even going so far as to advocate it in retribution for other policy matters shouldn't be a part of our community.

[depakid]

35. If that's the case- then you'd probably have to go back and ban all of those who applauded

at effigies of Bush & Tony Blair.

[dionysus]

39. why? when was this RepublicanUnderground?

[Aramchek]

97. Let's throw another shrimp on the Barbie!!

[azmouse]

36. I second that.

It's one thing to disagree with a President but to threaten them is another matter.

[DevonRex]

43. I third that. nt

[CBR]

44. Yeah it is pretty grotesque. nt

[phleshdef]

47. Suddenly acts that wreak with racist undertones are acceptable to anti-Obama DUers

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

55. Suddenly?

[cornermouse]

105. That would be "reek" not "wreak".

I learned that from my unionized public school teachers, who DU apparently thinks it is all right to hate and abuse.

[Bobbie Jo]

115. "...who DU apparently thinks it is all right to hate and abuse. "

What a load of crap.

Why do you hate America? :eyes:

[Bobbie Jo]

52. I couldn't agree more.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

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[DevonRex]

61. .

Oh my God. No racism on DU, right?

[Name removed]

71. Deleted message

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[spoony]

73. Effigies have been a part of political protests for hundreds of years

The fact that you're more upset about that than by Obama supporting the undercutting of public education, and educators, is telling, if not surprising.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

75. A school that fails to serve 93% of it students is undercutting itself.

It's very, very telling that you'd support them AND the effigy. You should be ashamed to even call yourself a liberal.

[DevonRex]

82. +1. nt

[YvonneCa]

91. And a teacher who does something like this...

...unfairly makes all teachers, even the good ones, look bad.

[cornermouse]

106. If you don't want to pay your fair share of taxes to

repair and buy supplies for the school; if you don't want to oversee and monitor your child's homework and progress; if you don't demand your child respects the teacher, it is not the teacher's fault. Its yours.

And by the way, all the above statements were things that I used to associate solely with libertarians and republicans until recently.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

117. So what SHOULD teachers accept responsibility for? Nothing? (nt)

[YvonneCa]

90. It is possible to abhor both...

...simultaneously. ;)

[Arkana]

95. And yet they've never hung a black POTUS in effigy.

How the fuck you can support this even tangentially makes me want to puke. Disagree with Obama's decision on the RI firings if you must but if you support this fuckweasel's actions you are a waste of flesh.

[YvonneCa]

89. I agree completely. n/t

[Sheepshank]

41. Short term memory I see

many here seem to forget the circumstances under which the teachers were hired and the expectations for them to perform for the high wage they were making. Seems like no one here remembers the teachers refusal to help meet one of four possible options to remedy the cituation when their school became one of the lowest performing schools, regardless of the teachers higher that normal wages. It was their refusal to help meet educational goals that set this ball rolling.

Union had to uphold that contractual agreement as well even though they didn't like the onerous and additional work load the teachers were asked to take on :sarcasm: . Effigy guy is a fucking loser and shouldn't be in the classroom. This is how he teaches problem solving to his students? They can get all that type of educating from the tea baggers and Glenn Beck.

The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000.

http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-unionized-rhode-island-teachers-refuse-to-work-25-minutes-more-per-day-so-town-fires-all-of-them-2010-2

• An increase in the length of the school day by 25 minutes

• Formalize tutoring schedules to provide extra help to struggling students one hour before and after school

• Agree to eat lunch with students one day a week to build stronger relationships

• Stay after school for 90 minutes one day each week to work on analyzing student work and test data

• Attend two weeks of professional development in the summer, for which they would be paid at a rate of $30 an hour

• Accept rigorous evaluations by a third-party

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/cent-m01.shtml

This was the option provided and they rejected under the guise that these attempts to fix the schools failing grade were tantamount to ripping up their contract. Really? The decision, left few other options.

[DerBeppo]

66. Of those proposals, only one (the second) would have ANY affect on student performance.

25 minutes? That's what, an extra 3 per period? How is that going to help exactly?

Eating lunch once a day with the students will not build any stronger of a relationship than seeing them 5 hours a week in class.

Fuck test data analysis, no, double-fuck it. I've wasted close to 20-30 hours of this current school year needlessly analyzing test data that only reflects known concepts like--big shocker--students who can't speak English, can't read or write it either.

Professional development is a huge variable. When it's produced in-house by teachers who have found effective ways of performing a task, then it's great. However, it's usually some horrid outside party being paid a god awful amount of money to tell teachers the same treacle about raising standardized test scores and test prep and test vocabulary.

Tougher evaluations for the sake of having tougher evaluations and not for the sake of support and improvement are a self-fulfilling destroyer of jobs and reputations. If you, as a district, make this a public focus of reform, then no matter how good or bad a job the teachers are doing, some will have to be evaluated as poor performing in order to justify their focus on making evaluations tougher.

All in all, a proposal that is nothing but buzzword bullshit instead of real reform.

[Lilyeye]

78. I think it can because it happened for me.

"Eating lunch once a day with the students will not build any stronger of a relationship than seeing them 5 hours a week in class."

As silly as this may sound, it can actually work. When I was in the sixth grade, my teacher would have some of us come to her room for lunch to study. As time went on we got to know her better and then we all started to come to her room for lunch just for the fun of it. I can't speak for the other students, but her taking that time out for us really meant something for me. It showed that she cared and was actually interested in us. When I went in her class, I was more eagar to learn from her. Not that I didn't want to learn from my other teachers, but that bond with her certainly helped. I still consider her one of the best teachers I've ever had. This might not work for every student, but it wouldn't have hurted to try.

[DerBeppo]

80. Granted

Now imagine that it wasn't in the classroom, but in the cafeteria and you know the teacher sitting at your table is being forced to sit there. I know that fostering relationships with some students has a dramatic impact, but only if it is organic and grows from a place of real care rather than a administrative fatwa.

[Lilyeye]

96. Good point.

[Name removed]

84. Deleted message

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[izzybeans]

48. It looks like the one teacher that did deserve to get canned at this school outed himself.

This piece of shit shouldn't be near any child.

[Name removed]

49. Deleted sub-thread

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[LatteLibertine]

53. Hanging a President in effigy

who happens to be black? *sigh*

[Vattel]

103. The teacher did not hang Obama in effigy, did he?

[LWolf]

126. This is why I condemn the action.

Not because Obama doesn't deserve harsh criticism, protests, and political action for applauding the firing of 93 teachers. He does.

But the symbolism of lynching, and the implied racism, is not okay.

Personally, I would have preferred a toppled statue, myself. It's more American, and to the point.

[Ten Bears]

54. I am troubled by the linked article.

It is lacking a lot of specifics. First of all let me preface that hanging a president in effigy is not, in my opinion, automatically beyond the pale but doing so to this president is different because of his race. Shouldn't be done. But he was hung by his feet, perhaps he was just being stored there. Perhaps the lesson was that the president was upside down on this issue? Was the sign also upside down, indicating that the correct display was for the doll to be standing. I also missed any statement in the article saying that the teacher in question was in fact a member of the union. I would guess that he was not. But again it is just speculation as nothing in the article states one way or the other. Let me put forth a bit of fiction to illustrate this. A story states that a teacher shot a student. You all may then be lighting up your torches, as you have done in this case, and marching on the school. But more facts come out later that the teacher shot the student in the teachers home after the student had broken into the house and seriously injured the teachers family and approached the teacher with a weapon stating that he was going to kill him. When the facts come out the shooting is justified. Put your torches out and save your indignation for when you know the full story. Quick question. Would it be the same if it was an Arne Duncan doll? Mob rule is never the way to go.

[dave29]

65. it's beyond the pale in any classroom

we have different boundaries, I guess.

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

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[YvonneCa]

92. That was pretty...

...funny. :7

[Ten Bears]

93. Hate makes you feel so much better doesn't it.

[Vattel]

101. Good point. The teacher did not hang Obama in effigy.

There would have had to have been a rope around the doll's neck to do that. The foot-lomg doll holding the sign was hung from a whiteboard by its feet. There's no reason to suppose that the "hanging" was not just a convenient way to dsplay the doll with the sign.

[kestrel91316]

68. Inappropriate political statement in school.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

77. Sorry only read the headline, re-edit.

...

[LWolf]

83. What goes around comes around. nt

[cali]

100. aren't you a teacher?

I bet you'd never do this.

[LWolf]

111. Yes, and you are correct. I would never do that.

The symbolism of "lynching" puts that out of bounds. Maybe toppling a statue would be more appropriate.

I would protest in many other ways, and I'd certainly not only withhold my vote, but work to defeat a "leader" whose solution to the decades-long degradation of the system is, not to repair and heal it, but to continue the destruction in the form of union-busting, privatizing, and scapegoating teachers.

[Name removed]

121. Deleted message

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[harkadog]

88. These are the teachers everyone on DU were supporting.

Obama was right, fire them.

[DFLforever]

94. +1

[Vattel]

102. Yes, this one incident certainly proves that

all of them should be fired. (Sarcasm)

[brentspeak]

114. You win Dumb Post of the Day.

[harkadog]

116. You mean I took it away from you today?

I knew I would get the prize from you someday.

[robinblue]

123. What a horrible thing to say!!

[harkadog]

127. Tell that to President Obama.

He said it. I'm just agreeing with him.

[boppers]

98. ... and this is why they were fired.

Their own Union has pretty much condemned these folks. This isn't about Union busting, it's about kicking out people who make a Union, even an entire trade, look bad.

[cornermouse]

107. I believe that's pretty much what Reagan said when

he destroyed the air traffic controllers union and, not exactly coincidentally, enabled a lot of other union busting; which is lowered a lot of people's wages and mom went out to work because families couldn't make it on a single wage any more.

[LWolf]

124. +1

[Lerkfish]

109. yes, sure, because the board looked in their crystal ball and predicted that one teacher

would do this so they fired all of them, just to be sure. It had nothing to do with union busting, although this does free them up to hire nonunion teachers, by eliminating an entire local. But its not union busting.

And of course, like you say, this makes all teachers evil, just like that. The magic crystal of corruption was rubbed along with the rabbit's foot of hell and now all teachers (at least all union teachers) are now bathed in the blood of young children.

and of course, like a good democrat, this gives you the opportunity to trash ALL UNIONS while you're at it. Not just this one union, but all unions for all time, and the firing of all people who have the temerity to make a union.


man, you must sleep well at night, being such a good antiunion democrat.

[boppers]

118. "The teachers union on Thursday condemned the effigy".

Is the union engaged in union-busting, then? Wow.

[Lerkfish]

119. my bad, I misread your post.

I thought you were saying something different.

[LWolf]

125. This isn't why they were fired, obviously.

They were fired before this happened, and "they" didn't hang Obama in effigy. One of the 93 teachers linked Obama to the firings and hung a figure upside down in the classroom.

A valid link, since he praised the action.

The union did not condemn "these folks." They condemned the act by one of the 93, as do I. I would not have condemned a public protest linking the firings to the president; I condemn the symbolism inherent in the "hanging."

The actions of one teacher in protest, a protest that is valid if inappropriate, does not justify the firing of 93 teachers, and is not the cause of that firing.

It's about union-busting. It's about privatization.

[jeanpalmer]

113. Deeply saddened by a doll hanging upside down

but not for mass firing of teachers? Totally corrupted value system. What's there to say about a clown like that? He's running a school district? Shame.

[vaberella]

128. I was...until I read post# 41.

These teachers get paid almost upper middle class income if compared with NYC in a community that averages out 22,000.