Tearing The Obama Sticker Off The Car

The NY Times looks at the fall-out from the Central Falls firings and the president's embrace of the policy:

A Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty of a poorly performing school, and President Obama’s endorsement of the action, has stirred a storm of reaction nationwide, with teachers condemning it as an insult and conservatives hailing it as a watershed moment of school accountability.

The decision by school authorities in Central Falls to fire the 93 teachers and staff members has assumed special significance because hundreds of other school districts across the nation could face similarly hard choices in coming weeks, as a $3.5 billion federal school turnaround program kicks into gear.

While there is fierce disagreement over whether the firings were good or bad, there is widespread agreement that the decision would have lasting ripples on the nation’s education debate — especially because Mr. Obama seized on the move to show his eagerness to take bold action to improve failing schools filled with poor students.

“This is the first example of tough love under the Obama regime, and that’s what makes it significant,” said Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, an educational research and advocacy organization.

Leaving aside the efficacy of the moves, which are dubious at best and worthless at worst given the track record of such closures in Chicago and New York, let us note how teachers are the target for Obama's "first example of tough love."

As I have noted before, he has held no one else accountable for any mistakes made during his administration.

Geithner for the AIG bailout, Summers and Bernanke for creating the financial mess in the first place, Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein for stealing billions of dollars, Homeland Security for screwing up with the Penis Bomber, his entire administration's running of the health care debate have all been catastrophes of varying degrees but there has been no "tough love" shown to anyone involved.

Just love, actually.

Geithner and Summers are still around, Bernanke has been renominated to another term at the Fed, Dimon and Blankfein are raking in billion dollar bonuses.

It is only the teachers that Obama is willing to show "tough love" to.

And how do teachers feel about getting Sistah Souljahed by "President Accountability"?:

Mr. Obama’s endorsement of the Rhode Island board’s tough action infuriated many of the four million members of the two national teachers’ unions, thousands of whom campaigned vigorously for him in 2008.

“I ripped the Obama sticker off of my truck,” said Zeph Capo, a midlevel official at the Houston Federation of Teachers who trains classroom teachers. “We worked hard for this man, we talked to our neighbors and our fellow teachers about why we should support him, and we’re having to dig the knife out of our back.”

Officials at the two unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, were so angry in the hours after Mr. Obama first endorsed the firings that an irreconcilable break with the administration seemed possible, perhaps bruising Democrats’ electoral chances in November. Recognizing how a permanent breach could hurt everyone, however, both sides sought to lower tensions, partly by encouraging a negotiated settlement in Central Falls, administration and union officials said in interviews.

Therein lies the problem.

The unions didn't go to the wall with the administration and say, "Okay, you've lost us. We're not going to work for you in November, we're not going to work for you in 2012 and we're going to actively undermine you at every chance we get. That's what we do when we get f#$%ed by our political "allies". And see if all the conservatives who are cooing over this union-busting are going to vote for you in November and in 2012."

But the unions heads didn't do this. Or at least they haven't yet.

Duncan and Obama are going to continue this policy of blaming teachers for all the ills of the school system (and society for that matter) and they're going to try and enshrine the Race to the Top policies in the NCLB re-authorization.

The unions need to take him to the wall and let him know where things stand.

Teachers need to take the proverbial knife Mr. Capo described Obama had put into his back after working to elect him in 2008 and turn it back toward the administration.

Otherwise Obama and Duncan are just going to ride roughshod over us and there will be nothing left of the public school system or teachers unions by the time Obama is done.

Call the AFT and let them know how outraged you are.

I called before the Central Falls firings and I have called since.

I was told very few teachers were calling to complain about Obama before the firings but afterwards the phones were ringing off the hook.

So call and let Weingarten know - no collaboration with Obama.

Tear the Obama sticker off your car, Randi.

Take the knife out of our backs and use it back against them.

And call your Congress people too.

Tell them what you think about the firings and the RttT policies.

I'm telling you, there are a lot of Dems worried about what is going to happen in November.

They'll listen.