Letter: Tough decisions for tough times

I’ve been reading in the Journal how organizers are petitioning to recall Sheila Harsdorf. I’ve held my tongue but I can no longer sit idly by.

I wonder if people really understand the situation. Our country has a massive, unsustainable debt. Virtually every state in the union is broke.

In November we elected Scott Walker to get this state back on track. Now he’s under fire.

I’m not quite sure what the petition organizers are upset about, but let me present these scenarios:

1)Walker, in dictatorial fashion, forced this bill upon us. If this is what they’r upset about, where were they when President Obama, along with Harry Reed and Nancy Pelosi, crammed the health-care bill down our throats?

2)Teachers don’t make much money. The average teacher’s salary in Wisconsin in the 2009-10 school year was $52,644. When you add in the retirement and health insurance packages that are included, their pay is very competitive with other professions. Plus, they get weekends, holidays and summers off.

3)Walker is trying to break the union. I don’t want to send anyone into cardiac arrest, but the teachers’ union couldn’t care less about our children. They’re all about power and greed.

When a school district must lay off a teacher, it’s not based on merit. It’s based on “last one hired is the first one fired.”

In June 2010 Milwaukee teacher Megan Sampson was named “Outstanding First Year Teacher of the Year.” One week later she was fired.

Why? Because Milwaukee needed to lay off 482 teachers, and collective bargaining dictated that teachers should be fired based on hire date and not merit.

Times are tough. We have to make tough choices. Many decisions will upset people. But unless we right the ship, things will get much worse.

Tags: opinion, letters, politics, kinnickinnic