Follow this chain of logic carefully:
If you want to be a public school teacher in Wisconsin, you must join the union and financially support it through dues the school collects from you automatically.
If you are a member of the union, you are also expected to support it wholeheartedly and without reservation and never, ever, ever cross it publicly.
The union is completely and totally in the tank for the Democratic Party in Wisconsin.
Which means that no public teacher in Wisconsin can ever show support for a Republican.
And it seems she’s learning the lesson — she’s reportedly considering quitting the union. Which means quitting her job, and ending her career as a public school teacher in Wisconsin.
This is precisely why we need to abolish — or, at least, tightly rein in — public sector unions. They end up forming a self-perpetuating political-financial machine: the unions take dues from the members, pump that money into electing amenable public officials, who would increase the pay and benefits to the union members. Then, the union members give more money to the union, and the cycle perpetuates.
Most negotiations are based on two parties, of roughly equivalent power, each trying to maximize their own benefits. In the case of public sector unions, the unions actually exert a great deal of influence on who is negotiating with them from the public’s side. Imagine a baseball game where the home team picks the referees from its own roster of players. Or a pick-up basketball game where one captain picks both teams.
Sorry, Ms. LaCroix. When you decided to become a public school teacher in Wisconsin, you forfeited any right you might have to ever express a dissenting opinion from your union. Too bad you had to learn that lesson, but them’s the rules.
