Special to WorldTribune, November 27, 2020
by Cheryl K. Chumley
The author has written a new book, ‘Socialists Don’t Sleep‘. Following is the second of three excerpts. See Part I.
Welcome to America’s schools. Welcome to the madness of today’s public schools. The system is not so much about teaching our children to read, write, and compute as it is now a battleground for money, power, control, leftist indoctrination, and yes, outright socialist infiltration.
And if you think this is hyperbole, think again. On February 22, 2018, teachers in West Virginia kicked off a massive strike that impacted an estimated 277,000 students. The strike was called because union leaders said Republican governor Jim Justice’s budgeted 4 percent raises for teachers over three years didn’t go far enough.
So thousands of teachers across the state’s 55 counties simply walked out of class and headed to the state capitol to protest in the streets and at the political offices of Charleston, leaving hundreds of schools emptied and closed in the process. The buildings stayed that way until March 7, when teachers ultimately won 5 percent raises and returned to their classrooms. Actually, the unions won their 5 percent pay-raise concessions from the governor just a few days into the strike, on February 27, and he signed the deal a few days after that, on Tuesday, March 6. But teachers didn’t want to return right away to school. “Schools are called off on Wednesday [March 7] for a cooling off period and will resume on Thursday [March 8],” the West Virginia Education Association posted on its Facebook page.
How nice for them. But for the taxpayers and parents who either had to take off work to stay with their children or pay higher daycare costs to occupy them during normal school hours? Cha-ching. What a face slap. After more than a week of striking, teachers were in essence treated to a paid emotional holiday. …
[A]nd this is the real hair-raiser: Their protests weren’t just carefully orchestrated and strategically planned. They were completely socialist-driven. They were specifically crafted by socialists working within the school system. They were specifically designed by socialists who purposely tried to put those evil corporations in the cross- hairs so as to gain the most public support for their protest buck. From the website of the Democratic Socialists of America — an excerpt of a post “penned by DSA teachers of West Virginia,” explaining the genesis of the strike movement in that state: “A few DSA members that were teachers in West Virginia public schools began having conversations about new austerity measures facing public employees. Our wages had been stagnant for years — unlike our healthcare costs, which were climbing. We formed a reading group, held brainstorming sessions, and quickly agreed that winning our demands would require militant action.”
Militant action? Teachers as DSA members? This is not the rhetoric of kindly elementary-level instructors. These are not the people to be trusted with American children.
…
If this is horrifying — it should be. These are America’s schools we’re talking about, after all.
Education is a key target for socialists because (1) it’s a system that’s already highly unionized — meaning, the masses are easier to shepherd; (2) education isn’t going anywhere — meaning, it’s not a business that will just pick up and move to an area less friendly to unions; (3) the system is ingrained in communities nationwide — meaning, students and families regularly interact with teachers, and compassion-for-cause is therefore more easily gained; and (4) teaching is a relatively stable job — meaning, the socialists within the system will be better able to root their messages and spread their influence, because the workforce won’t be in constant turnover.
Their ultimate end game is not better education for the children. Their ultimate end game is agitation, with the purpose of gaining greater, ever greater power.
See Part I: Uproot the seeds of socialism: Christians must rise or America will fall, November 26, 2020
Cheryl K. Chumley, author of ‘Socialists Don’t Sleep‘, is Online Opinion Editor at The Washington Times, a U.S. Army veteran and a licensed private investigator.