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Thursday, December 26, 2013

#4 on Your Hit Parade: War on Public Education, the Battle Against Teachers | Reclaim Reform

#4 on Your Hit Parade: War on Public Education, the Battle Against Teachers | Reclaim Reform:

#4 on Your Hit Parade: War on Public Education, the Battle Against Teachers

AlterNet and ThinkProgress have looked back over the year and chosen nine societal abuses that are incredibly important yet generally ignored by major media. The #4 spot tells of the “Hit” against active and retired teachers along with many other public employees.

9 Incredibly Important Things That Happened In 2013 That Most People Aren’t Talking About

by Judd Legum
Here are the top issues of the year that failed to get the coverage they deserved.
Hit Parade
4. Thousands of people who worked their entire lives had their pensions stolen.
In Illinois and Michigan, thousands of working Americans had their promised pensions stolen from them, despite guarantees in their states’ constitutions that protected their benefits. Those impacted include “retirees who worked their careers as sanitation engineers and teachers, firefighters and police officers, public defenders and city clerks” — many of whom will now be thrown into poverty. As these two Midwest states appear to be getting away with it, many other localities may follow suit.
The message from the Education Industrial Complex is simple: We will crush you now and at every age.
As massive numbers of superb qualified teachers leave teaching, the connection to the #5 Hit is suggestive for the middle-aged (40-55) and the elderly.
5. More people died in America from suicide than car accidents.While suicide is frequently associated with teenagers and the elderly, the growth has been