By SJ Otto
KAKE TV and other news organizations have covered a story
by an anti-teacher's union right-wing smear group that has focused their
attention on the leader of a teacher's union.
Steve Wentz, president of the United Teachers of Wichita and
former teacher at Southeast, was filmed by so called journalists of the smear
group Project Veritas, making damaging remarks about threatening a student with
physical violence.
This looks bad, but union officials have said the film has
been heavily edited and Project Veritas is running smear campaign. Still KAKE has followed through on the film
asking teachers in the district what they think of this.
I went to the right-wing website of Breitbart.com, which is supporting Project Veritas and found
it very disturbing:
"A Project Veritas
undercover investigative series
revealing the corruption within teachers unions in the New York City area
now turns to expose a local teachers union president in Wichita , Kansas
Breitbart.com gave us more details on the type of harassment
this groups inflicts on teachers. Here is what Breitbart.com said of Project
Veritas:
"In the other videos in the Project Veritas series on teachers unions, the journalists uncover union officials who advise them on how to hide child abuse and excessive absenteeism, and admit to refusing to report teachers who abuse drugs."
This is the kind of harassment we saw from the anti-abortion
groups, such as Operation Rescue,
where they stalks and harasses doctors and employees of abortion clinics. But
Operation Rescue believes it is saving unborn babies. What is the motivation
for harassment of teachers and their union members? What horrible wrong have
teachers possibly done to deserve this kind of a hate filled smear campaign?
They seem to brag about wanting to get rid of teachers for using drugs, drinking
and possibly other adult activities that are perfectly legal or acceptable if a
teacher is not on the job, even if these things are done off the job. They have
a page they call "Teacher's Union Gone Wild." They don't respect the teacher's
private lives at all.
Teachers have been under attack in Kansas from their governor, Sam Brownback. He has already tried to strip
the teacher's unions of any real power. He has attacked the schools as well.
Some teachers already feel heat from unsatisfied student's parents on top of
legislators who seem to attack their lively hood and they often complain of
feeling disrespected by both. Now they have a whole new group, from New York , who seem to
hate the idea the most teachers in the country have a union to defend and
protect them. Such people seem
determined that no one in America
will have job security or respect for their profession.
To treat teachers this way is repugnant. We need to oppose
these hate mongers at every opportunity.
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