teaching the teachers unions about civility and the merits of competition

From last Wednesday's WSJ...

The Utah legislature passed one of the nation's most
far-sighted voucher laws in February, and the state
teachers union is calling in the national cavalry to
help repeal it in a November 6 referendum.

Last month Kim Campbell, the head of the Utah
Education Association, schlepped all the way to
Philadelphia to speak at a National Education
Association convention, where she asked the board of
directors for financial support to oppose school
choice. Ms. Campbell promised that her campaign to
defeat it "will be ugly, mean and expensive," and she
needs the outside cash to overwhelm pro-voucher
supporters in the state...

The Utah union chief made her out-of-state trek, by
the way, even as one of her spokesmen back home
denounced the "river of money from out-of-state
ideologues intent on starting a voucher experiment in
Utah." Apparently, out-of-state contributions are only
tainted when they're used to support something the
teachers union opposes.

In any case, Ms. Campbell's plea didn't fall on deaf
ears...the Utah union's $3 million request for its anti-voucher
campaign was approved. The union's executive director
wouldn't confirm or deny the amount when we inquired,
but she did volunteer that "we're reaching out to the
national affiliate for support and assistance, and
we're hoping it will be significant." You can bet it
will be.

No one likes competition for the goods or services they sell. Some are able to convert this dislike into regulation that promotes monopoly power for them-- here, benefiting suppliers at the expense of taxpayers (who spend more than $10K per student per year) and parents/children with modest incomes (who are stuck in the government-run monopoly).

Not surprisingly, the teachers unions-- both state and national-- have a vested interest in seeing additional competition go down in flames. Hopefully, the people of Utah will stand firm in November-- for themselves as taxpayers, for students/parents...and for justice. May God curse the efforts of the NEA to promote their self-seeking agenda.