Citizens United Continues to Show Us What It's All About

We saw big money go into Wisconsin and save Walker from his recall nightmare. Tea Party people with big money interests behind them convinced many to vote against their own best interests. Destroying collective bargaining is a serious issue that could affect the very existence of our middle class. Introducing collective bargaining helped create the middle class. Yet Walker convinced many people that teachers’ unions were the enemy, a situation auguring terrible consequence should Republican governors continue laying off teachers as an “economy,” and attempting to break unions. The states with the top educational standards and highest student achievement are unionized states. Correspondingly, those states (mostly Southern) whose educational standards and student achievement are lowest don’t have unions. Incidentally, teachers in this country do not earn enough money to justify the number of hours they put in and the work they do. If we are to be a stronger contender in this 21st century and bring up the achievements of the next generation in math and science, we recruit and treat teachers better and not act as if they have no right to make a decent living. How can we begin to recruit the top people in our college graduating classes if we don’t stop this assault against teachers? Walker’s continuing in office sounds an ominous note for Wisconsin. Let’s not repeat it elsewhere. Wisconsin, once considered a good education state, has now lost many good teachers, some of whom were forced to leave because their incomes were significantly cut.