Republican Ninny State Says No to Teacher Gestapo

Republicans are not only ignoring calls to tone down their vitriolic rhetoric, they seem to be hell bent on turning every one of their pet projects for enriching themselves into a circus of absurd and violent ranting. In one of the latest examples, Rep. Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, Minnesota, chair the House Education Reform Committee, demanded that the “Teacher Gestapo” back off their plan to include 90 days of classroom supervision for teachers undergoing an alternative licensing program. The “Gestapo” to which she referred was none other than the state’s teachers union, Education Minnesota (EM)

While Erickson later apologized, it should be pointed out that she is a former English teacher, herself, and well aware of the high attrition rate for novice teachers, and even higher rate for those who haven’t been credentialed or undergone supervised student teaching. Throwing a bunch of poorly trained novices into classrooms does not result in better educational outcomes. Rather, it results in schools having to replace large numbers of teachers after only one to three years. 

It should also be pointed out Erickson recently praised EM for their willingness to collaborate with her committee in a joint effort to damage public education in Minnesota. EM President, Tom Dooher, said, “We are willing to work with anybody,” which presumably includes Nazis, Commies, as well as Republican nitwits.

Here are just a few of the sellout projects EM is collaborating on:

• Easing rules on alternative teaching programs
• Yearly performance evaluations (possibly more often)
• Teacher pay tied to student performance