The myth of the inherent goodness of American school teachers is perhaps my least favorite of all the money-grabbing nonsense that gets fed to us by grifters. I write that as someone who has a lot of teachers in his family and circle of friends. There are a lot of good teachers out there; some of them are even great and can have a huge impact on children's lives. The myth, however, is that all teachers are saints who toil away for slave wages as they ever-so-graciously guide our children through life. It's an utter garbage assertion, especially when talking about public school teachers who belong to a union.
Teachers' unions are evil. They're not at all interested in the education of American kids. They're political lobbies solely focused on getting more money for themselves, money that will not have anything to do with education. The unions completely outed themselves during the COVID pandemic, when they vigorously fought to keep schools closed long after science and most of the American people thought that they should be opened.
Rather than prioritize the needs of the students, the union teachers did what they always do: demand more money. During COVID, they added embarrassing amounts of drama, taking to the streets in protest and insisting that their lives were in peril if they returned to the classrooms (that's depicted in the feature image for this column). They had no worries about being in protest crowds, though.
Research has shown that prolonged school closures during COVID were responsible for a disturbing amount of developmental damage for the students. We can thank the oh-so-saintly union teachers for that.
Now, teachers in San Francisco are striking and proving once again that education always takes a back seat to the unions' cash grabs.
This is from a New York Post article earlier this week:
And with the strike set to drag into a Wednesday, local parents are now fuming after teachers emailed them and asked them not to encourage any home study.
The district — which says it could lose millions in funding each day the strike goes on — offered homework packets that include “five days of independent study work and practice in both English Language Arts and in Math,” according to its website.
But teachers claim in messages they sent to parents that the packets were a ploy to ensure the district continues to receive funds during the strike, meaning the district would be able to avoid caving to the union’s demands.
“If many families participate in independent study, it reduces pressure on the district and can prolong the strike,” read a screenshot shared on social media. “If you are able, we ask that you do not participate in the independent study provided by the district.”
That's right: The teachers are asking that parents not let their children learn. That's American public education in a nutshell right there. Everything they do in pursuit of more money proves that they don't deserve it. Here was my response when I first read about this:
Wherein the clown car makes the case for not being allowed on the freeway. https://t.co/v9A6WWibDi
— SFK (@stephenkruiser) February 11, 2026
Maybe it's the Common Core math that makes it difficult for them to understand, but there are some harsh economic realities in this particular situation that these teachers are ignoring. The city of San Francisco is in a doom spiral, with a tax base that's shrinking faster than a supermodel on a diet of coffee and Ozempic. Blinded by their lust for MORE, the teachers have thrown the kids under the school bus and refused to read the room.
When several public schools here in Tucson shut down to join the anti-ICE protests a couple of weeks ago, I wrote that it was a reminder to President Trump to shut down the Department of Education. I've had high hopes for that ever since he picked school choice advocate Linda McMahon to head the ED after he won again in 2024. I really thought that she would be vigorous in her efforts to make her job obsolete, but my enthusiasm is waning.
As I have written a kajillion times, Republicans need to be more vocal about school choice. School choice is the key to weakening the teachers' unions, which is why they so vehemently oppose it. Taking the unions down a peg or two is the key to eventually kneecapping the Department of Education.
Nobody should have to remind Republicans in Congress how important this is — the teachers' union teachers keep doing that every day.
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