During my ephemeral career as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, I enjoyed the teaching aspect, but little else. As a non-tenured teacher, when my articles about educational reform were published, the reactions were swift and severe. My evaluation levels began dropping, formerly friendly teachers now refused even to acknowledge my presence; the convivial chatter ceased. One outraged teacher wondered how anyone could support Republicans, much less say a word against the teachers unions. The local union, United Teachers Los Angeles, was nowhere to be found for assistance.

There was simply a vitriolic culture of intimidation and blackballing at my school. A teacher could be tardy, ineffective, absent for weeks at a time, and nary an eye would bat. But to declare your opposition to the teachers union was unacceptable, not that any fatuous colleague would come out and say it straight to my face. Stares, shunning from events and little notes with links to my blog and articles being passed around in the faculty lunchroom would suffice.

When I recently read that the UTLA Human Rights Committee was planning to host earlier this month a meeting of groups calling for a boycott of products from and investment in Israel, I realized that this reprehensible endeavor made the illegal fees that teachers unions tacked onto monthly union dues to fund the fight against Governor Schwarzenegger's reform proposals last year seem innocuous. Swift condemnation of the meeting by Los Angeles Jewish leaders and many union teachers convinced UTLA to deny use of its headquarters to the committee.

It's not just that so many public educators are unrepentantly biased toward leftist politics, it's that the realities of the "real world" are so foreign to them that they have little idea how their policies appear to non-teachers. And as soon as criticism is levied, the unionists shout back in protest, "Well, you've never been a teacher, so what do you know." Well, I have, and I do know. The teaching world is far removed from the real one.

Just as teachers and unions discourage and obfuscate plans for merit-based pay, tenure extension and, of course, tracking of where union dues end up, the legitimate intentions of outsiders and "maverick" educators, like I suppose I was, fall on deaf ears, no matter how noble and realistic they are.

Somehow, though, students can still be pulled from class anytime for "multicultural" activities and other events celebrating "diversity." Teachers bristled when I questioned these wasted hours. Class time and taxes were being burned through as test scores plummeted. This was painful to me. However, most teachers loved it. And why not? They didn't have to teach.

And maybe that's what educrats want. They have constantly opposed measures that hold teachers accountable for student performance and progress. It didn't seem to matter to them that the federal "No Child Left Behind" law, when proposed in 2001, was sponsored by unabashed liberal, Ted Kennedy, and drew more votes from their beloved Democrats than Republicans.

These teachers also seek to indoctrinate our youth with revisionist history and a sweeping dismissal of all things patriotic, such as military history and the Pledge of Allegiance. They also oppose allowing military recruiters on high school and college campuses.

All of this is tragic. Policy ignorance aside, knowledge of and pride in our country's past, no matter how controversial it has suddenly become, is necessary for our kids. Most of my former students in Los Angeles still thought they lived in Mexico and that President Bush hated black people.

We can't simply blame Air America Radio and rapper Kanye West for such mistaken suppositions. Educators must be held accountable. If they want to take credit, as they so often brag, for "producing all the future doctors, lawyers and CEOs," then they must accept the critiques that come with it.

The country has a lot of work to do to return to educational prominence. It would be nice if we had our most vital allies, teachers, joining us. As of now, based upon my experiences, we do not.