By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

OKLAHOMA CITY – Teachers unions often express a desire to collaborate with all education stakeholders to improve public schools for children.

The decisions made by union bosses, however, rarely reflect that philosophy.

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The Oklahoma Education Association, a state affiliate of the National Education Association, recently dumped state capitol lobbyist Daniela Newville for working too well with others, including hated Republican lawmakers, OklahomaWatchdog.org reports.

“They forced her out because she had developed good relationships with both sides of the aisle,” Joel Robison, chief of staff for the state superintendent, told the news site. “What irritates me is when you’re conducting yourself professionally, and you’re not treated professionally. They wouldn’t even let her go to the statehouse during the (2011-12) session.”

Robison previously worked as the union’s top lobbyist before he left the OEA in 2011 in part because of its aggressive partisan politics. He told the Oklahoma Watchdog that Newville was forced out by union bosses because she didn’t subscribe to the OEA’s confrontational approach.

“OEA leaders have a reputation for taking polarizing actions to convince policymakers to bow to their demands: they have often succeeded because of the organization’s perceived power and size,” the news site reports.

Of course, we’re hardly surprised by Newville’s fate. EAGnews regularly reports on union leaders who say one thing and then do another.

But Newville’s ouster is a specific example that Oklahoma residents would be wise to consider the next time union officials blather on about “collaboration” or finding “common ground.” Those are nothing but code words designed to confuse the public while the unions try to grab as much money and control as possible.