According to the propaganda of the teachers unions, these are bleak times for public education. Younger teachers are being laid off, school employees are making benefit concessions, and unions are losing bargaining privileges.
Heck, things are so (allegedly) bad that President Obama is barnstorming the country in an effort to whip up support for his latest bailout for Big Education.
In the midst of all the wreckage, one group has emerged completely unscathed: the leaders of the American Federation of Teachers.
The fat cats at the AFT are living large – dare I say like the 1%?
The union’s recent financial report filed with the federal department of labor reveals President Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten saw a cool 15% increase in her compensation – a bump of over $65K, taking her to $493,859.
An additional 193 employees make more than $100,000.
Remarkably, the union – while being bludgeoned in places like Wisconsin and Tennessee – apparently sees value in supporting new teachers unions around the globe.
The report reveals several expenditures to unions around the country, including:
· Federacion Colombiana de Educatores - $51,876
· Federation of Mongolian Education and Science Unions - $51,875
· KK NSZZ Solidarnosc (Poland) - $51,876
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· National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa - $42,951
· NASWUT (UK) - $42,951
· Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (Philippines) - $46,200
The union also reported paying $6,934 to “Wild Africa Safaris Inc.” which appears to be a Canadian travel agency specializing in African and Middle Eastern destinations.
But the union doesn’t just “spread the wealth” abroad. They know how to have a good time in America as well. Check out these separate expenditures totaling over $500,000, just in Las Vegas:
· Flamingo Las Vegas - $175,476
· Flamingo Las Vegas Adv. Dep. - $129,859
· Harrah's Las Vegas - $71,716
· Harrah’s Entertainment - $77,500
· Flamingo Las Vegas - $28,592
· Harrah's Las Vegas - $10,511
· Harrah’s Entertainment - $12,500
· Mirage Hotel-Lodging - $6,152
The reality is the union can spend its dollars however it sees fit. If it wants to pay Weingarten a million dollars a year – and push her further into the 1% – that’s its choice.
But there are thousands of teachers across the country who have no choice but to financially support the union as a condition of their employment. They are just the “host” that the parasitic union leadership feeds off of.
The “peons” can labor in the classroom, while Weingarten and her ilk live large in Vegas. The least Weingarten could do is bring back some souvenir shirts that read, “My leadership went to Vegas on my dime, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”
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