The Montgomery County Education Association (pejoratively, the “teachers’ union”) should behave like any other union: protecting wages and maintaining working conditions on behalf of its members, all in return for the percentage it takes from each member’s salary.
As part of the unfolding fallout from the Biedelman scandal, MCEA posted on its Facebook page a statement from Jennifer Martin, the union’s president, with the following assessment:
…we find it alarming that Jackson Lewis [the law firm investigating Biedelman] could discover no indication that the Board of Education had knowledge of any investigations into the alleged serial harasser…
Well, ch’ya, that is alarming.
What is just as alarming is the complete failure of MCEA and its president to do anything about this situation. Ms. Martin has been in office since 2021, as have most of the union’s officials. That is plenty of time to review ongoing complaints about Biedelman. It is extremely hard to believe that nobody in the teachers’ union knew nothing about Biedelman’s alleged predation. And if nobody in the union knew anything, then what good is the union?
This isn’t the first time MCEA failed to protect its workers. In November 2020 an unbelievably courageous mother broke the news about the rats and broken HVAC at Gaithersburg’s South Lake Elementary School.
These are two colossal failures that prove the teachers’ union a) can’t or b) won’t protect its members. However, when it comes to politics, teachers’ union officials have all the time in the world. Kristin Mink paid $15,200 to union activist Christopher Willhelm to run her campaign. That effort was more important than protecting teachers from Biedelman. What’s more, you can go right now to MCEA’s twitter page and see all sorts of posts in support of the United Auto Workers. From a union-member perspective, whoever is being paid to do that work needs to be reassigned to look into other teacher complaints that are being ignored.
Teachers, you really should be thinking if your union is just as guilty of cover-ups or negligence as the school board. Also, if you have a story you want to share with us, contact inquiry@cleanslatemoco.com or me directly at mbell@cleanslatemoco.com. CleanSlateMoCo guarantees a sympathetic ear and anonymity if you so request.
