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WHEN ARE WE GOING TO LEARN THAT UNIONS HAVE BECOME OUR OTHER MONKEY MASTER?

NEA Monkeys> <P>Much too slowly, teachers are discovering that our corrupted districts could not maintain the organized level of teacher abuse without an accomplice. The powerful Goliath force guaranteeing that teacher abuse can thrive originates from many of our unions. The insidious nature of this partnership is the key to maintaining this secret.</P> <P> By terrorizing teachers, administrations know that they will appeal to teachers' rudimentary instincts for survival and avoidance of psychological pain. For most teachers this means

Once proven that scruples have no place in their life, or that they are so obviously desperate they would never dare reveal the dark secrets of what really goes on in our schools, they are recruited to head up our local unions. In some cases, they are teachers despised by parents that need another way of maintaining their careers - consumer satisfaction is definitely not a possibility for them. If they are going to expect their principal to continually defend their ineptness, they had better find a soldier position that assigns value in this system.

Once perched in power as union leaders, they can virtually certify that teachers will behave and vote like marionettes. Teachers will vote against options that could give them freedom such as charter schools, or school choice, knowing that the wrong vote will bring misery to the staff. Also, they are aware that "secret" votes are often not secret either. With all that power in their hands, they have their ways of knowing who voted for what. These teacher sell-outs become the leaders of teacher abuse while the administrators gloat in the distance, comfortable that the unions are their remote controlled androids. See teacher story, Karen Horwitz, where her union leaders led the harassment process against her. Occasionally an honest person seeks leadership in their union and the disposal forces take over as in the case of Donna Gallo of New Mexico or Dan Geery formerly of Idaho. However, as in every other aspect of this system, teachers know; they put on blinders and avoid eye contact with any semblance of integrity.

Unions are a potent Monkey Master since they can pretend to be the protectors of teachers. Therefore, arriving at the realization that they can be our biggest obstacle to safety in this convoluted environment, requires a trip through an even bigger maze. Fortunately, some groups are forming to assist in making union motives transparent. Damaris Doughtery founded and leads one of most evolved groups that is attempting to strip away the façade of the UTD Union of Miami Dade School District in Florida - TRAC. The members of her group no longer blindly follow the UTD's Monkey Master.

Recently, she circulated good news to her members, proving that they are wise to scrutinize the UTD:

Every time my 5 year-old niece accomplishes a major task for a 5 year-old, she squeals with delight "I did it!" I thought we would borrow that phrase from her and proclaim: WE DID IT!

Thanks to the help and hard work of many TRAC members, yesterday we helped wrest UTD's death grip from the School Board. For years, UTD has had a 5 member voting block on the School Board. No need to convince any of you about the horrendous/stupid/bad/scandalous/irresponsible decisions we have seen from the Board. We can thank UTD and the Board Members UTD has bought and paid for, for 99.9% of those decisions.

Unlike UTD, TRAC invested only sweat equity in the race for School Board District 6. We did not spend one penny of our members' dues. UTD dumped thousands and thousands of membership dues dollars in this race (and thousands upon thousands in the Governor's race). Our efforts show that anything is possible when teachers unite and take affirmative action to effect change. The conviction and dedication of teachers that went door-to-door speaking to voters, telling them why they supported Gus, was a powerful message no amount of advertising dollars could by. That teachers would volunteer to give up their weekends to support a candidate, sent a convincing message to the public. The outcome of this race shows how much the voting public trusts the judgment of educators.

EDUCATORS HAVE MORE POWER THAN THEY REALIZE. Educators need to remember how good it felt last school year when, after the District and UTD were unable to resolve the impasse, educators quickly resolved the issue. In a plan, designed exclusively by educators, educators united and stopped the District from subjecting them to slave labor - something UTD was powerless to accomplish! Educators can take back the reins of their careers; they just need to remember how much power they actually wield with the public. In the US, teachers are the profession Americans trust most.

In the race for District 6, TRAC members did more than just campaign against UTD. TRAC members, after having information concerning the candidates, decided Gus Barrera was the candidate we wanted to support. Though touted as a teacher, Anita has been out of the classroom for more than 10 years. She herself admitted in an interview that she was "too tired to teach." If she lacked the stamina to be in the trenches with the kids, how was she going to have the stamina to be in the trenches fighting for the kids and educators? Furthermore, her long run as an administrator within the system and her close to UTD, really make her another insider. Gus is a community activist with an exceptional business management record. We believe he will bring fiscal accountability and responsibility to the Board and will help redirect dollars to the classroom.

Last week we were instrumental in blowing the whistle on UTD for violating State Law and School Board Policy, by using children to promote UTD's political agenda. We proclaimed at that time, it would not be business as usual in this school district any longer. This week we reaffirm it will not be business as usual. UTD no longer can do whatever it wants with the School Board and we are glad to proclaim once more, WE DID IT!

Damaris Perez Daugherty
Teacher Rights Advocacy Coalition, Inc.
Our Mission: To promote education by empowering
educators and elevating their status.
305/242-7632
www.GetOnTrac.org
TRAC4Education@cs.com

WE CAN ALL DO IT ONCE WE REALIZE WE ARE BEING LED BY MONKEY MASTERS! THE ONLY THING KEEPING US FROM HAVING POWER ARE LIES. BE PROACTIVE AND YOUR "CALLING" WILL STOP BEING A HANG UP!

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