Hey Wisconsin Teachers! Do your job, then we’ll talk about money.

The great state of Wisconsin. Where the teachers suck.

I’m not a union guy. I think if you look deep enough into any industry (or government) that is in trouble, you’ll find a union (or two or more) at the bottom of it making things far more expensive than they need to be.

That’s just my opinion. Right now I’m watching all the protests in Wisconsin over all the free benefits public employee union people get. It’s hard to sympathize with people who are only being asked to pay for a tiny portion of their healthcare and pension, which is far less than what people in the private sector pay.

I just took a look at the nation’s “National Report Card” for reading 2009 for grades 4 and 8 (the latest available).

If you look at page 33 in the report (click the above link), you’ll see that only 32% of 8th graders in Wisconsin are proficient at reading on their grade level. That means 68% of Wisconsin 8th graders, more than two thirds, cannot read their native language at an 8th grade level. Also, Wisconsin 8th graders have shown no improvement in their reading ability between 1998 and 2009, even though they spend more money per pupil for the entire mid-west, a whopping $10,791 per student.

If I was Governor Walker I’d bring the hammer down, and tell them I’d be happy to negotiate collective bargaining agreements once student performance didn’t suck.