Don't believe Lisa

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Union's TV ad hides truth – but not Web site

Californians still have a month until the special election, but it's hard to imagine we'll see a more dishonest TV commercial than the one now running against Proposition 75, which would bar public employee unions from using employees' dues money for political purposes without their written consent. The commercial features a teacher named Lisa Dickason earnestly proclaiming, "If Prop. 75 passes, who's going to be there to speak for teachers – and who's going to be there to speak for students?"

The claim that the goals of teachers are in sync with the needs of students is laughable. All you need to confirm this is a look at the California Teachers Association Web site (www.cta.org). If the CTA were really concerned about improving schools, the site would be brimming with policy proposals and ideas about reform. Instead, its agenda is one-dimensional: increasing teachers' pay and perks while preventing objective evaluation of teachers' competence.

This is why we see outrages like the Michigan teachers union blocking a bequest of $200 million to set up charter schools in cash-strapped Detroit simply because the charters' likely success would show up teachers in other public schools. This isn't hardball. It's, well, disgusting.

Keep this in mind the next time you hear a teachers union mouthpiece try to stake out the moral high ground.