Warren Lee Culpepper
When my dad died in 1993, my friends’ father, Mr. Ripol, drove over an hour one way – after midnight – to pick me up from Marine Corps Officer Candidate School. The Corps had put me on emergency leave to deal with my family’s loss. To articulate just how much I respect Mr. Ripol, I need only one word — awesome. He is a great father, and he recently wrote to me expressing concern about my writing’s undertone of “anger.” Because I admire him, I listened to his wisdom.
Digesting his comments, I realized the anger he uncovered is my contempt for teachers’ unions and teacher-credentialing programs – keep in mind I am a teacher. I see unions like I see bullies. Bullies stir most everyone’s anger by picking on smaller, weaker people. In my rowdier days, I had a bad habit of stepping in, too eager to fight them. The bullies who were bigger than I was, who reveled their size advantage, were the ones I couldn’t wait to knock down a peg or two. Similarly, unions behave in the same arrogant and intimidating manner as bullies. They’re emboldened by their numbers and size. They anger me with all their scams. They claim to benefit teachers, and they boast about looking out for students. However, they actually jeopardize students’ learning and attempt to sedate competitive teachers. Many union members are not competitive people. These individuals fear standing alone. They stir my anger because they should just be thankful to have a job. They often lack ability, and the idea of holding them accountable for their students’ successes or failures causes them heart trouble. (Mr. Ripol’s wits are probably beginning to tingle again.)
No, I’m not suggesting all union members are bad teachers or bad people; many competitive teachers would welcome performance-based pay, but for now, they play the hand they’ve been dealt – only because they love teaching. However, the unions and those who run them trigger the problems. Unions protect bad teachers and bad people. Despite my wicked temptations, Mr. Ripol will be relieved to know I never punched those teachers who told me motivating students wasn’t their responsibility – going to jail never seemed worth the potential pleasure my anger presented. So, I just listened as these teachers argued their job is to present the material, and the students’ job is to learn it. Unions and tenure protect such a stupid mentality. Yet there are also consequences for such a moronic viewpoint – unjust consequences. Students fail to learn and taxpayers waste money paying these inept teachers’ salaries. These are the teachers who rely on the unions to survive just as the unions rely on these teachers to stay in power.
Unions’ spewing political correctness that suffocates self-reliance also stirs my fury. I know plenty of spirited teachers who would prefer to look out for themselves versus forming teacher gangs to maraud about — roughing up administrators who control their salaries so that all teachers get their fair share of money in life. Life’s not fair, and unions illustrate that fact clearly — better teachers get the shaft at the benefit of hopeless teachers. One would think educators would value logic, not feelings. So, when a structured-pay scale permits ineffective teachers to make more than effective teachers, maybe that should tell us something about the intellect of union leaders. It’s baffling how many people ignore facts. Unions discourage better teachers from working harder by preventing raises for stellar performers. Shamefully, the unions’ doctrine of political correctness commits the exact injustices it claims to prevent – it victimizes others — worst of all, it’s victimizing students the most by discouraging gung-ho teachers.
Plenty of teachers try hard to help students; so when Mr. Ripol offered me his wisdom regarding the image I’m portraying as I try to help, he humbled me. He didn’t actually say this, but I know he disapproves of my hostile attitude brought on when I step in to hassle bullies. It’s not my most charming quality, I know. His wisdom made me pause and consider that while the unions clearly have thuggish qualities, I’m no saint either. Picking fights with bullies isn’t something I’m proud of. On the other hand, my blood boils every time the mobs (or teacher’s unions) flaunt their power to intimidate administrators, to entice politicians, and to tranquilize motivated teachers. The unions’ agenda filters into the classrooms. Every parent has probably experienced the assigned “group projects” – the ones that build teamwork by less brainy kids allowing the brainier kids to carry the load, ensuring they all get a good grade. It’s a scene that would make a union’s heart flutter.
When other ambitious teachers see the sugarcoated curriculum or the politically correct nonsense that unions peddle in the public school system (protecting inept teachers from accountability) they psyche themselves up for a battle to stop it, as well. I guess in an effort to do that, an ugly part of one’s character surfaces. Fighting is ugly. But sometimes it’s necessary. To triumph, reality sometimes forces us to swim in the gutter where our opposition wallows. I think when we refuse to accept defeat, we might often look more like our adversaries than we look like ourselves – even if we’re fighting to protect those who actually need protecting.
Thank you for reminding me of the image I’m portraying, Mr. Ripol. My father would have appreciated your keeping me in line.
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Warren Lee Culpepper is currently writing his first book, Alone and Unafraid: One Marine’s Counterattack Inside the Walls of Public Education. Additionally, he is a contributing columnist for The Publius’ Forum, The North Carolina Conservative, and The Hinzsight Report.
A 1991 graduate of Virginia Tech, Culpepper majored in both English and Communication. He was also a varsity wrestler. He attended the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia, and received his commission in 1993. He served four years on active duty before settling in southern California to begin his teaching career. He taught high school English in both California and Texas. He recently moved to eastern North Carolina with his wife, Heather, and their bulldog, Shrek.
Lee can be reached at drcoolpepper@yahoo.com.
Visit Lee’s blog at http://wlculpepper.townhall.com/