Teacher license suspended for Harrington-Cooper

PennDOT announces that driver license, photo centers will be closed on Veterans Day

First Posted: 10/19/2014 As I type this letter, I ask you to read it with an open mind. I hope you will realize that I am simply trying, as a son and brother, to expose an abuse of power that has been carried out by some of the local political leadership of the Pennsylvania State Education Association against my mother and brother for far too long.
My mother has been a dedicated elementary educator in the local public school system for 35 years. Throughout that time, she was a loyal and dues-paying member of PSEA. She always put her students first and won several awards in recognition of her professional excellence. However, since my brother has been a candidate for state representative, both my mother and Aaron have been targeted and bullied by certain PSEA leaders.
Allow me to give some perspective. My brother Aaron initially challenged incumbent state Rep. Phyllis Mundy in 2012. It is understandable that there was a long relationship between Mundy and PSEA, but I witnessed several questionable tactics carried out by some PSEA bosses during that election, which included (1) refusing Aaron an interview with PSEA before it endorsed Rep. Mundy, (2) interrupting and removing Aaron from the local AFSCME chapter meeting during an invited speech because AFSCME leases its office space from PSEA, and (3) watching former PSEA/PACE union leader Lisa Barrett verbally abuse my mother for questioning the endorsement process.
Regardless of PSEA&#8217;s shameful behavior in 2012, neither my mother nor Aaron wanted to make those tactics the main issue in that campaign. They took the high road and refused my attempts to go public. However, now even with Mundy retiring and Barrett in jail, the same tactics are happening again.
This time when Aaron approached PSEA about an endorsement, it did make him an offer. The group said he could interview with a man from PSEA who already happens to be on the opponent&#8217;s volunteer campaign staff. To be fair, the man did recuse himself from the interview, but a replacement was never named and PSEA has since endorsed the opponent without interviewing Aaron yet again.
The last straw came a few weeks ago when my mother attended a PSEA retired teachers luncheon. After several candidates and other guests were given the opportunity to address the crowd, including one saying how a certain gubernatorial candidate &#8220;&#8230; must get strong PSEA support because his mother was a public educator in Pennsylvania for over 30 years,&#8221; my mother asked if she could introduce herself to the group. She was denied. Apparently 35 years of teaching service counts for some and not for others. The hypocrisy could not be clearer.
What I still cannot understand is why the political leaders of PSEA silence one of their own members and ruthlessly work against my brother, who is a product of the local public school system, supportive of pre-K education and supportive of the best quality public education to prepare our children to enter the world.
Maybe I am na&#239;ve, but I would like to believe that the PSEA should be a non-political group focusing on the best interests of teachers, students and public education.
Teacher union dues pay these PSEA leaders&#8217; salaries, and I doubt most teachers would sanction the use of their hard-earned salaries to fund political vendettas.
The teachers, students and taxpayers of the area need to join together and demand better.
Dr. Seth Kaufer
Philadelphia

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