(National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen) Garcia was also asked for her response to people who “accuse teachers unions of only being interested in protecting the system as opposed to individual students.”

“I can tell you the names of my individual students one by one, hundreds and hundreds over the years. I’ve got pictures of all of them. Let me see my pictures. I would think that was a set-up question but my NEA team said, ‘Oh, it’s too bad you don’t have pictures of that party.’ I’ve got pictures of everything and these kids are a lot older now but these are my babies. I took these pictures,” she said.

“And so whenever someone wants to denigrate teachers who actually organize themselves to have the collective power that we need to have our voice heard, and they say we don’t care about the children, I want to know if those folks can tell me the names of the children that they love that don’t live in their house because I can – and I’m the president of the NEA,” she added

Garcia challenged critics of public school unions to meet her “behind the school.”

“We do what we do because we love our students and we honor our profession. And so, I would challenge anyone personally to meet me behind the school and talk to me about what I fought for all my life, what I fought for – my babies – because they can’t touch that,” she said.

Garcia condemned the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the education budget as well as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ support for school vouchers.

I’ve got an idea for Secretary DeVos and President Trump that will really make Ms. Garcia shriek:  Get the Imperial Federal government out of education altogether.

You can examine the Constitution online in any number of places.  You can get an app to load it on your phone or tablet.  Take a look at that document.  Note that the 10th Amendment states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Now, show me in that document where the Imperial government is allowed to meddle in education.  Never mind, I’ll answer:  It’s not in there.

Want the answer to dealing with self-serving bureaucrats like Ms. Garcia?  Bring the bulk of government back to the state and local level.  Schools should be at a local level; if a local school board official pisses you off, you can go bang on his door and yell at him.  If your state representative makes a stupid statement, you can go to his office and demand a retraction.

But our Imperial pols and bureaucrats?  Try to make an appointment to talk with one of them.  Good luck.