Onion Time!!

Since the return of "My Two Cents" I've failed to hand out the prestigious "Big Ol' Sack Of Onions Award".  It's an honor reserved for those who show such audacity--and usually, idiocy--that it deserves special recognition.  To catch up on lost time, let's hand out three "Sack O' Onions" today.

Our first winner is the Middleton Education Association.  This week, the Middleton School District reported it had spent $300-thousand dollars in legal fees in a fight to fire a teacher who was viewing pornography on his classroom computer.  The teachers' union has been the one dragging out the firing--claiming the District failed to follow proper procedures in firing the teacher.  What's more, the union argues the District's policy on computer usage was "ambiguous" on whether viewing porn in the classroom was a fireable offense.  I don't know which shows more "onions"--claiming that using school district computers to view pornography in the classroom does not merit immediate dismissal--or complaining about education funding cuts when your own actions costs your schools $300-thousand dollars.  Just wait until the out-of-court-settlement comes along adding to the unneccessary expense.

Our next "Sack" winners are the Madison School District--and WEAC (the state's largest teachers' union).  These groups are denying properly-filed Freedom of Information requests for the lists of teachers who called in sick last February--but instead went to protest the collective bargaining bill at the Capitol.  The defense for this middle finger in the face of citizens exercising their rights is that teachers who skipped out of their job "would be targeted for threats."  A WEAC spokeswoman--in defending the organization's funding of a lawsuit in La Crosse blocking the release of "fake sick" records in that district--says "it's really unfortunate seeing educators being demonized for their decision to attend the protests".  I should note that many school districts have released the lists of teachers who gave fake excuses to join in the protests--and none have been gunned down outside of their schools--or have even reported receiving any threats.  And when you consider that Madison schools had to be shut down for four days in a row (remember, "it's all about the kids"), I think taxpayers deserve to know who was responsible for this disruption in public services.

So congratulations, Middleton Education Association, WEAC and the Madison School District for going above and beyond in your efforts to stick it to taxpayers and to make sure your protected members aren't held accountable for their actions.  Enjoy the onions.