Education Action Group Back at Work for May 5 Election
I recently received a postcard with a cartoonish, photoshopped image of Grand Rapids Public Schools Faculty Union President Paul Helder playing puppeteer to GRPS School Board candidates Kevin Weiss, Tony Baker and Wendy Falb with the subtitle "Union Puppets for Grand Rapids School Board."
The text of the postcard states:
"The Grand Rapids teachers' union wants expensive health insurance and a 6-10 percent raise. Those demands would cost the district - and taxpayers - millions of dollars they can't afford. The union is trying to guarantee those perks by taking control of the school board. If the union's endorsed candidates - Tony Baker, Wendy Falb and Kevin Weiss - win next Tuesday, the union will have its way and the rest of us will pay. Taxpayers should stay in control of public schools. Please vote in Tuesday's school board election and prevent a union takeover of the Grand Rapids district. Find out more about the teachers' union's agenda at MEAexposed.com"
It's interesting that the copy says "the rest of us will pay" given that the EAG is based out of an office in Muskegon.
Not surprisingly, I could find no content on either the EAG website nor on the MEAexposed website that supported the claim that Falb, Baker and Weiss are controlled by the teacher's union or that they were "handpicked" by Paul Helder (as Kyle Olsen alleges in a Grand Rapids Business Journal op-ed).
There's no shortage of hypocrisy in the fact that a shadowy front group that refuses to disclose its funding sources is pointing fingers and alleging school board candidates are unduly influenced by outside parties.
Media Mouse has some excellent analysis of the EAG and this latest effort (as well as some new information gleaned from the front group's website about their ideological origins and financial backers).
The text of the postcard states:
"The Grand Rapids teachers' union wants expensive health insurance and a 6-10 percent raise. Those demands would cost the district - and taxpayers - millions of dollars they can't afford. The union is trying to guarantee those perks by taking control of the school board. If the union's endorsed candidates - Tony Baker, Wendy Falb and Kevin Weiss - win next Tuesday, the union will have its way and the rest of us will pay. Taxpayers should stay in control of public schools. Please vote in Tuesday's school board election and prevent a union takeover of the Grand Rapids district. Find out more about the teachers' union's agenda at MEAexposed.com"
It's interesting that the copy says "the rest of us will pay" given that the EAG is based out of an office in Muskegon.
Not surprisingly, I could find no content on either the EAG website nor on the MEAexposed website that supported the claim that Falb, Baker and Weiss are controlled by the teacher's union or that they were "handpicked" by Paul Helder (as Kyle Olsen alleges in a Grand Rapids Business Journal op-ed).
There's no shortage of hypocrisy in the fact that a shadowy front group that refuses to disclose its funding sources is pointing fingers and alleging school board candidates are unduly influenced by outside parties.
Media Mouse has some excellent analysis of the EAG and this latest effort (as well as some new information gleaned from the front group's website about their ideological origins and financial backers).