Teachers’ Unions Win a Defensive Victory

posted at 12:35 pm on November 7, 2012 by Mike Antonucci

I toyed with the idea of writing an entire blog post this morning on how the GOP recaptured the Wisconsin state senate, since NEA seemed to think control of that chamber was such a big deal back in June, but I won’t be (such) a wise-ass.

The unions did what they needed to do. They helped re-elect the President and they brought to a halt any momentum there may have been for more serious and wide-ranging threats to their power base. They defeated hostile ballot measures in California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan and South Dakota, and were even able to put a tax hike over the top in the Golden State. There will be no mass movement into voucher systems, merit pay, tenure reform and collective bargaining limits. Those are big wins.

From a practical standpoint, however, we have the same President, the same Secretary of Education, virtually the same Senate composition, virtually the same House composition, virtually the same split of governorships, and virtually the same split of state legislatures. And unlike 2008, there is no prospect of card check, stimulus packages and edujobs bills on the horizon.

Where NEA and AFT tried to gain ground, they experienced very tough sledding. They couldn’t get tax hikes for education passed in South Dakota or Arizona. They failed to enshrine collective bargaining in the Michigan constitution. Spread thin, they couldn’t stop charter initiatives in Georgia or Washington. It’s too soon to evaluate the effect of all the state legislative races, but nothing indicates an ideological shift toward renewed public sector hiring – the only thing that can replenish union membership.

In short, the unions drove the barbarians from the gates, but not across the border. NEA and AFT spent a lot of money to ensure another four years like the last four. Is that a good thing for them? We’ll see.

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So here we go with another odd situation.

Wisconsin votes for Republican state senators, yet loses the presidential vote.

How many people in Wisconsin split this ticket and does anyone know why? Or is this all a greeymandered effect?

Freddy on November 7, 2012 at 3:16 PM

I wouldn’t call the defeat in South Dakota a win for the teachers union. It was just a screwed up complicated bill that few people were comfortable voting for. I didn’t like the idea of merit pay bonuses because how do you objectively evaluate that.

pitythefool on November 7, 2012 at 4:41 PM

Freddy on November 7, 2012 at 3:16 PM

I found that result odd as well. To vote Dem on the national tickets but return control of the state to the GOP was baffling since the issues were essentially the same. It may be that Dane and Milwaukee counties more than carried their weight.

teejk on November 7, 2012 at 5:27 PM

They defeated hostile ballot measures in California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan and South Dakota,

In Michigan, the two ballot proposals pushed by organized labor lost.

rokemronnie on November 7, 2012 at 5:41 PM

In short, the unions drove the barbarians from the gates, but not across the border. NEA and AFT spent a lot of money to ensure another four years like the last four. Is that a good thing for them? We’ll see.

Let ‘em suffer. IDC.

Myron Falwell on November 7, 2012 at 6:16 PM

This is a pretty terrible article. In Michigan, there were two proposals pushed by unions and both failed. There were no anti-union proposals.

Rollie on November 8, 2012 at 4:38 AM

It doesn’t matter. The left has captured the Republic because of the long march through the school systems and universities.

Here’s the pull quote, but click to read the whole article.

So even if it had been Romney taking the oath of office in January, our children would have learned about his policies from the people who voted against those policies. Our children — and our future voters — would have heard the shallow mantras of “tax cuts for the rich” and paying for bombs instead of schools, and many would have absorbed the rhetoric without questioning it.
As long as the left has controlled the schools, time has always been on their side. We lost the Republic in the classroom long before we lost it in the voting booth.

I have been saying for years that we must take back the schools. I fear that it is way too late. G-d help us.

Rixon on November 8, 2012 at 6:27 AM