Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Teachers as Victims

There's no question that some dedicated teachers have suffered as a result of the viciousness of the anti-Scott Walker budget protests and the union thuggery that has gripped the state since early February.

Some teachers have been unfairly criticized for being selfish and lazy and greedy.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel comes to the rescue!

It offers several sympathetic vignettes depicting teachers as heroes, suggesting they've been victimized by the budget battles and the fallout from the endless ugly protests.

Harsh rhetoric casting pall over profession, some say

They have been called lazy and greedy on blogs and website comment boards.

Their motives and commitment to their profession have been questioned.

They have been told they're paid too much money for their nine-month contracts, that their health insurance is too generous and that they need to pay more toward their retirement.

In recent months, Wisconsin's public school teachers have found themselves at the epicenter of a widespread fight over public-sector workers' earnings, their ability to bargain and the burden they pose to taxpayers and local governments.

And yet, they feel an expectation to shrug off the criticism and enthusiastically report for work every day, where they are entrusted to teach even their critics' children, and meet an ever-growing set of demands on their performance.

No wonder Morrow, a sixth-grade teacher at Prairie View Elementary School in North Prairie, characterized the mood among her colleagues as "pretty bleak."

"I'm not sure when I became Public Enemy No. 1," she said.

Obviously, this article is an exercise in cherry-picking.

Of course, there are terrific teachers who really care about helping children learn and achieve.

There are also teachers who aren't devoted to their profession as much as their salary and benefits.

We know that there are wonderful teachers. It's really not necessary for the Journal Sentinel to defend them, and it's certainly not right to cast supporters of Scott Walker as being anti-teacher.

Since the Journal Sentinel has been doing pieces on teachers as victims, I think there should be some articles telling the stories of teachers like Fred Levenhagen, and the liars willing to give their employers fraudulent medical excuses, and the ones who chose to protest rather than teach, keeping thousands and thousands of kids out of the classroom and forcing schools to close.

The Journal Sentinel should provide balanced coverage and tell the complete story.

The reality is some teachers have been victimizers.