[jeffmo]

well,i don't see the situation as that of a "union" issue or for that matter even an issue of a union simply trying to garner more members to make their local "that much richer".that is what has been portrayed as the problem across the country by some.
some of the facts are that teachers today do not have the authority in the classroom that they had in past years.couple that with so many states dictating that teachers have to spend so very much of their time getting students ready for proficiency tests and it's little wonder that SOME kids are behind.but remember this,what we OLD people consider common sense skills,the younger generation has little use for.we may be able to use tools and our hands to fix things but those aren't the skills required in THEIR world today.things have changed somewhat.
can a system be tweaked to insure that financial responsibility is maintained? sure,and it should be because it is tax money that we are talking about in the public sector and safegaurds should be in place and monitored.here in Ohio though,one of the big points that was being made was that public sector pension systems weren't maintaining solvency as they are suppose to by the stipulations of the laws governing them.In the case of our police & fire pension system,some politicians were wiping their feet on the truth though.because of the economic downswing,our pension system was not maintaining solvency because of failed investments.BUT,the powers that be in the financial end of our pension system had submitted proposals to the state that would have brought the system back into compliance(added member contributions,more years of service,etc).the problem occurred when these politicians refused to act on the proposals because it would not have allowed them to use the solvency as an argument to further their bill proposal.since the bill has failed,the proposals are now being heard.
btw,i have witnessed 1st hand,and have participated in the fight against the assault on public sector unions here in Ohio that happened over the last year.I received a hell of a lesson about politics and to be truthful,i hope that i never have to get involved with it to that degree again.i'd rather just finish out my career then fish whenever i want to!!
Here in Ohio though,the lies that were told about public sector workers and the unions that represent us were numerous and in the end,the truth came out as it usually does when lies are told. we were told that it was "all about financial responsibility".well,then we found out that contained in this bill proposal were articles that would not have saved our state ONE RED CENT but were included for one purpose,to weaken public sector unions. these articles were meant to initially lessen the number of public sector union members,make it very difficult for locals to collect dues,and to reduce the percentage of votes needed to de-certify a union local down to 30%. the voters here saw right through the bill proposal and voted it down with 63% of the voters saying NO to it.
If this post ruffles some feathers then so be it but that isn't my intent.I'd much rather leave this forum than to sit back and not state my opinion since i have been very involved in the issue here from the introduction of the bill to it's defeat and have witnessed those in my profession be villified for no other reason than politics,and it stinks.