massacre we've had extensive school news coverage particularly the idea of arming teachers to combat shooters, 'become soldiers,' another dangerous, absurd attempt to continue weapons sales, create gun training contracts in schools and above all keep up funding for the arms industry and NRA, under the guise of 'defense.'
As expected the US media has devoted far less coverage to the major WV Teachers Strike due to labor issues, notably appalling low pay and spiraling health insurance costs. Blatant measures to destroy public schools are part of years of conservative attacks on labor, unions, the commons and government as we know. Anti-democratic break down of institutions, public services, agencies and education in favor of privatization for profit, preferably with the aim of 'spreading God's Kingdom' in schools as DeVos said. Civics isn't even taught much anymore for some years now as I recently learned. The loss is obvious.
Many years and mass effort went into building the US public educational system, once the model for the world as pointed out recently in "Where to Invade Next" M. Moore's latest film. How people forget, and don't know. In my family five generations attended public schools and benefitted greatly. At least six became educators, including an ancestor from the WV coalfields who became a school teacher at age 16; a dean and an English professor at public colleges; an aunt and sister who became school teachers and myself, a public museum educator.
Note: this kind of major strike hasn't been seen in the US for decades. And since the WV strike lengthened, WV Gov. Jim Justice has been largely out of sight of late. On the DN! news program a Pa. labor journalist interviewed said educators in areas of KY and PA, esp. where Gov. Justice owns mining operations are considering similar action, along with teachers in Oklahoma. DN! also discussed British lecturers and professors at the University of Cambridge and the University of Manchester striking over pension cuts and other grievances. So we shall see. Enough IS Enough!
RE WV teacher health insurance costs: I heard that a 14 month freeze was just placed on rate increases, and a new 'task force' suggested by the Governor will review the program and decide future action by next year.
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