[Siuchingach]

One more thing we learned from the budget dramas of Wisconsin, New Jersey, Ohio and other states who have tried to demonize teachers: Most people respect and admire and value teachers. Most people realize teachers are underpaid, not overpaid for the work they do. Most people don't agree with ideologies that target teachers as scapegoats.

TPM: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...ipping-law.php

Chalk up another Democratic win this week: Alabama State Rep. Daniel Boman, who entered the legislature as a Republican in November, is switching parties to become a Democrat after he says the GOP went too far in attacking teachers in the state.

It's just the latest example of mainline Republicans turning on their party following the November sweep which put them in control of the House. On Tuesday, the solidly-Republican 26th Congressional District in New York rejected the GOP in part over the party's decision to end Medicare in the House budget. A few days before that, the Democrats stunned the Republican city of Jacksonville by electing the first Democratic mayor in 20 years. In New Hampshire, Democrats picked up a surprising win in a legislative special election.

Now there's Boman, who's walking away from the GOP after it took on the state's public school teachers.

From the Tuscaloosa News:Boman, a 36-year-old lawyer from Sulligent, said Wednesday's vote on a bill to change the state's tenure and fair dismissal laws for educators convinced him he was in the wrong party.Boman's switch makes the new makeup of the Alabama state House 65 Republicans and 40 Democrats.

The bill in question makes it much easier for the state to fire teachers and impose what critics say are arbitrary and unclear performance standards to measure teacher performance. Huffington Post's Joy Resmovits wrote a rundown of the bill -- which Gov. Robert Bentley (R) is expected to sign -- here.

[JJascaxal]

I guess this bullying of teachers shouldn't be surprising. The GOP isn't learning from its plethora of mistakes since the midterms. From healthcare and Medicare to union busting, they keep pushing as their numbers and support drop. If they can't be taught basic fundamentals of everyday life, why would they support teaching?