Congratulations to the Union Titans Basketball Team.

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World, let this be a lesson to you.

I've heard a lot about Union since they got up and running. New high schools in the area seem to become magnet schools for athletes, and Union is no exception.

Living in and having 2 kids going to Hockinson Schools (I moved here in large part because of the schools) I haven't followed Union closely. But they've made such a major impact on the local athletic scene in such a short time that it's certainly hard to ignore them.

In Basketball, subtlety was never their strong suit. They had a pretty good season, but compared to many, many, many others, it was mediocre. Undeniably, it was, however, quite good enough.

And somewhere along the way, they found "it." And along with finding "it," they brought the heart, the courage, the focus and the dedication needed to be true champions.

Like the mutt in the pen who turns out to be the superior hunter, the "Mutts" of Union were not supposed to win. They were supposed to be a lesser team. They were supposed to be hammered by the team they beat for the state championship (and what was their name, again?) because the team they defeated was, if I'm not mistaken, 29 - 0.

I wasn't at the game, but I followed it on Twitter. I saw Union fall behind towards the end of the game and I thought to myself, "oh, oh...." and then Twitter started lagging... and I didn't find out until an hour after it was over that these young men played so far beyond themselves that it was simply beyond belief.

To the young men... the coaches, the staff and Administration of Union... you have become legend.

And you deserve to be.
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Merit Pay for teachers... as seen by teacher unions.

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I've had some heartburn with teachers in the past. Those whining and sniveling a few months ago in the face of a 1% pay cut resulting from our massive recession were a case in point; like many government employees, they seem to believe they are somehow "owed" something and that, as a result, the recession should not impact them... while it crushes the rest of us

Here's Education Week's view, via "I Thought a Think."

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This is the scam teachers run.

This is the lie they propagate.

As I've mentioned in the past, the fatal flaw in Communism is, in my opinion, that it failed to take into account the "flaws" of human character.

That is, those who work the hardest at any job should be those rewarded the most.

That is obvious to most; a true meritocracy where those who do the best are rewarded the best would do much to reform every aspect of our educational process while, I believe, serving to draw our best and brightest instead of those we have now in all too many cases.

The article in question is a bunch of self-serving pap. As we all know by now, insanity is frequently defined as doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome.

To that end, where are the articles from this publication and other pro-teacher union outfits and the unions themselves providing genuine reform that will make a difference in our horrific drop out rate and the illiteracy of far too many of our graduates?

Where are the plans that if implemented, would hold teachers accountable for their outcomes?

No where. Because self-accountability isn't in the teacher lexicon.

What we're doing now, DOES NOT WORK.

I, for one, have no difficulty implementing a merit pay-based system, with clearly road marked standards and outcomes to achieve in order to qualify.

Because, while the yet to be proven idea that such a system "undermines teamwork," what has this fantastic "teamwork" brought us?

The worst educated children of any developed country anywhere.
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ANOTHER $10,000 of East Coast, special interest money for Tim "The Liar" Leavitt?

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SOMEBODY is buying Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, precisely like SOMEONE bought Steve "I'll take $100,000 in unmarked bills laundered through Progressive Majority, Mr. Barnett" Stuart.

So far, that SOMEONE has laundered $40,000 through an East Coast union with absolutely NO dog in this fight... like SOMEONE laundered $100,000 through Progressive Majority for Commissioner Steve Stuart (D-Barnett)

I WILL find out who, and hopefully get them indicted. Meanwhile that these people felt compelled to scam this cash through a union on the other side of the country must mean SOMETHING... something like they think Leavitt has managed to lose an election that was, sure enough, his TOO lose... and this expenditure means that it looks like he's pulled it off brilliantly.

You know, a lot of people are going to look like idiots here.

If Leavitt manages to pull this off then he, like Stuart, will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of whoever is buying him. And I AM going to find out who that is.

Why public service unions typically disgust me: Ridgefield school food proposal draws fire

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Unions seem to come in two basic packages when you're dealing with the government sector.

There's the unions that understand our economic situation and that basically, we all will suffer as long as our economy is heading south, or until the Obama Administration is impeached, since he's doing everything he can to bury us in debt.

Then there's the moronic, viciously greedy, uncaring-that-we-pay-the-bills type, like the 4 unions that sued the Governor because she tossed their labor agreements due to a paltry $10 BILLION deficit.

Ridgefield School Classified Association is one such union.

To save money in the midst of horrific spending cuts, contracting the food services out is under consideration. That would mean that 15 employees would be laid off.

The union is pitching a fit. And to that, I say: That's too damned bad.

When a union president is reduced to lying: "These employees are the essential fabric of what makes our small town schools unique," that shows how out of touch and willing to exaggerate unions are to keep their people going at our expense.

My business is off 54% and it's absolutely attributable to the recession and budget cuts. While I have my thoughts on the causes of the economy, the fact is that our economy sucks, and that means EVERYONE, INCLUDING UNIONS, are GOING to feel the pain of it.

Kudos to the RSB and their Super for thinking outside the box. Unfortunately for the food workers, when their are cheaper alternatives that make sense, their is no compelling reason for these workers not to go.

Of course, instead of whining about it, they might.... just might.... have enough sense to make an alternative, competitive proposal that would allow them to stay.

But, nahhhhhh.... it's easier to whine and snivel and blame. And, because of their "Me, first" attitude, they really won't be missed.


Ridgefield school food proposal draws fire
Union fights plan to lay off 15, switch to contracted service

Saturday, May 23 12:15 a.m.

BY HOWARD BUCK
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Looks like there's a big food fight brewing in Ridgefield.

Ridgefield School District classified employees say they're furious Superintendent Art Edgerly and the school board would consider terminating 15 food-service workers, to replace them with a contracted company.

The workers' union is urging parents to crowd Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. school board meeting to register displeasure with what its leader calls a "heartless" proposal.

The potential money-saving move comes while Ridgefield sports a relatively healthy budget in a year when other Clark County districts are wrestling with multimillion-dollar deficits.

District officials have sent a contract service feasibility study to the state education office, the Ridgefield Classified Association said in a withering statement issued Friday.

"These employees are the essential fabric of what makes our small town schools unique," said Denise Krause, classified union president.

"This is the wrong direction for the board and district to take," Krause said. Many food-service workers are low-wage, low-hour employees whose families face tough times, she said. To fire them now "is heartless" when the district has more than $2 million in reserves, she said.

The current operating budget for the 2,000-student district is about $18 million.

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