UNIONS: Stop blatant bashing

“Yes For Idaho Education,” concerning your recent mass mailer: Your characterization of unions is wholly inaccurate, but especially this characterization of the teachers union as anti-parent.

What do you think the PTA is, the PTO, regular parent/teacher conferences, the open-door/open-classroom policy in our public schools?

If home schooling were to receive state funding, thereby making it public schooling, would this same open door policy extend into the home-school environment? I strongly suspect not. Hence the taxpayer would be on the hook for fronting the cost of something that he/she would never be able to openly examine, one of your chief complaints.

Teachers in Idaho are the fourth worst paid in the nation. This “evil union” of local community adults has sacrificed years of incremental wage increases to keep schools open and make sure that kids come first despite this kind of relentless effort to drive them into the ground.

Why do you hold so much resentment and contempt toward people who make a nominal living at best in this state in exchange for the kind of dedication to service they provide?

I am not a union guy. No one in my household or extended family is union. But as a small business owner for the last 32 years in this state I absolutely recognize the role unions play in making sure we have communities of working people who have the wherewithal to shop in our stores, pay the bills we send them and raise their children to be educated, self-supporting adults.

Get off this demonization of unions. It is misguided and fails to accurately connect the dots toward a viable personal and business environment in our communities. If you had any courage or integrity at all you would pass this around to everyone in your organization to at least present another viewpoint. But that sort of thing seldom happens with the union-bashing crowd.

Run your thought process a little deeper. We would all benefit from it.

STEPHEN D. BRUNO

Hayden