By SJ Otto
KAKE TV and other news organizations have covered a story by an anti-teacher's union right-wing smear group that has focused their attention on the leader of a teacher's union.
Steve Wentz, president of the United Teachers of Wichita and former teacher at Southeast, was filmed by so called journalists of the smear group Project Veritas, making damaging remarks about threatening a student with physical violence.
This looks bad, but union officials have said the film has been heavily edited and Project Veritas is running smear campaign. Still KAKE has followed through on the film asking teachers in the district what they think of this.
I went to the right-wing website of Breitbart.com, which is supporting Project Veritas and found it very disturbing:
"A Project Veritas undercover investigative series revealing the corruption within teachers unions in the New York City area now turns to expose a local teachers union president in Wichita , Kansas
Breitbart.com gave us more details on the type of harassment this groups inflicts on teachers. Here is what Breitbart.com said of Project Veritas:
"In the other videos in the Project Veritas series on teachers unions, the journalists uncover union officials who advise them on how to hide child abuse and excessive absenteeism, and admit to refusing to report teachers who abuse drugs."
This is the kind of harassment we saw from the anti-abortion groups, such as Operation Rescue,where they stalks and harasses doctors and employees of abortion clinics. But Operation Rescue believes it is saving unborn babies. What is the motivation for harassment of teachers and their union members? What horrible wrong have teachers possibly done to deserve this kind of a hate filled smear campaign? They seem to brag about wanting to get rid of teachers for using drugs, drinking and possibly other adult activities that are perfectly legal or acceptable if a teacher is not on the job, even if these things are done off the job. They have a page they call "Teacher's Union Gone Wild." They don't respect the teacher's private lives at all.
Teachers have been under attack in Kansas from their governor, Sam Brownback. He has already tried to strip the teacher's unions of any real power. He has attacked the schools as well. Some teachers already feel heat from unsatisfied student's parents on top of legislators who seem to attack their lively hood and they often complain of feeling disrespected by both. Now they have a whole new group, from New York , who seem to hate the idea the most teachers in the country have a union to defend and protect them. Such people seem determined that no one in America will have job security or respect for their profession.
To treat teachers this way is repugnant. We need to oppose these hate mongers at every opportunity.