Boycott the Copy Editors!

Katherine Kersten's new Strib Column ends:

These applicants, like Wal-Mart's current employees and loyal customers, are not dupes or fools. They are individuals struggling to get their small part of the American Dream. It's time, I'd say, for teachers unions to get back to improving our kids' academic performance, and leave the rest of us to shop and work where we want.

She's writing - unapologetically and disapprovingly, and very clearly - in opposition to the Teachers Union's "boycott" of WalMart. The unions are, on the face of it, upset about WalMart's policy on unionization:

The MFT, along with the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, is urging parents and teachers who shop for school supplies to boycott Wal-Mart, the nation's leading discount retailer. The unions claim that Wal-Mart workers' wages and benefits are too low.

Unstated in the union's palaver - they're really trying to take out their pound of flesh for John Walton's support of school vouchers, one of the NEA's great unforgiveable sins:

The family continues to use proceeds from their stock holdings to pump money into the Walton Family Foundation, which funds educational, policy and community groups. As in the past, the foundation directs millions of dollars to anti-labor groups and anti-public education efforts that have long been supported by John Walton, the quiet private checkbook behind the national voucher movement.

Pro-Voucher Movement

In 2002, the Foundation spent $28 million on the nation’s two largest private scholarship programs, which promote taxpayer-funded vouchers while supporting private and religious schools.

Another $300,000 helped the Institute for Justice, the right-wing legal group that defends voucher programs and attempts to knock down state constitutional barriers to vouchers. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation, which continues to challenge political activity by NEA and the Washington Education Association, received $200,000 to help pay its legal bills.

But the interesting part?

Look at the online headline for Kersten's column: Teachers should leave Wal-Mart alone. Ambiguous?

Or is it just me?

Posted by Mitch at August 29, 2005 04:57 AM | TrackBack