CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

Snake oil salespersons all!

(See the September 5th edition of CAT Tracks for a rebuttal.)

It's a sad day indeed when unions sell out their members in a futile attempt to curry favor with those determined to destroy public education, its teachers, and especially the unions that represent them.

I've got to believe (I want to believe!) that if it were a Republican President pushing this sh*t that the IEA and the NEA would have the backbone to stand up and fight for what is right. Otherwise, what's the point of paying union dues*...

...you can get all the abuse you want for FREE!

Unfortunately, their "Democratic" President is the one leading the enemies of public education. Subsequently, unions feel outnumbered and outflanked and have settled on an appeasement policy. Maybe Cinda, Dennis, and the other elected officials of the IEA and NEA need to do some Googling and see how well appeasement worked back in the 1930s.

When will the IEA and NEA leadership wake up?

Or, maybe, more to the point...

Will the IEA and NEA leadership ever wake up?

Unfortunately, "We, the Pee-ons" are left to experience our personal Martin Niemöller moment:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

Or as Bob Dylan might respond:

The answer to those questions (of when or if the IEA an NEA will wake up/stand up), my friend...

...is blowin' in the wind.

DISCLAIMER:

As for the asterisk above - about "why pay union dues?"

Before I start a revolution, I shall answer my own "rhetorical question":

Teachers in Cairo pay union dues - must always pay union dues - because, well, they teach in Cairo School District Number One...

...a district with a long history of ignoring the law, mistreating teachers, and never, ever, admitting their mistake...choosing instead to fight long expensive legal battles before being ordered to do what was so obviously right.

It has been well-documented, the money that CSD #1 spent on fighting James Gibson...over $200,000. Well, James needed legal representation too. CAT could not have mounted a defense of James Gibson without its affiliation with the IEA-NEA.

So, bears repeating...

Teachers in Cairo pay union dues - must always pay union dues - because, well, they teach in Cairo School District Number One.

Like car insurance, health insurance, life insurance...

...union dues are your "work insurance".

Don't leave home, don't teach without it!

And...

The IEA and the NEA do actually do the right thing on many issues of importance to teachers nationwide, statewide, and in Cairo.