UPDATE: A reader points out that State Senator Mary Hodge is getting good at this pay-to-play thing. Hodge, as readers remember, was the lead sponsor of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s mag ban bill earlier this session. All the buzz in the State Capitol is that she carried the bill after Bloomberg called Governor Hick and Hick called Hodge.

Gee, why would Hicka and Hodge have ever given into Bloomberg? $$$$$$$!!!!!!! But there is more work to do, sayeth Senator Hodge. Pay back time for the AFL-CIO/AFT. Hodge is becoming a go-to legislator for liberal special interest causes. Now that is the kind of legacy to be proud of!

—–

Teachers unions are, at least in principle, meant to help improve life for teachers. Unfortunately, in the last couple of decades they’ve transformed from a teacher support system to an outright wing of the Democratic Party.

There’s no clearer evidence of that than how they spend their money.

That it goes 100% to Democrats 100% of the time is a well known fact, but what’s more revealing is the staggering amount of dollars that end up in Democrats’ campaign coffers rather than the classroom.

In Colorado, the smallest teachers union, the AFL-CIO affiliate American Federation of Teachers, which pretty much only operates in Douglas County, spends millions on elections — money that most teachers would probably prefer go towards training instead of attack ads.

According to FollowTheMoney.org, from 2004-2012 the Colorado Federation of Teachers has spent $1,438,879 on political campaigns, with all of it going to Democrats and liberal front groups. In the same time period, employees of the Colorado Federation of Teachers have given only $380 to politics.

$380. In eight years. Guess they have different priorities.

The national branch, the American Federation of Teachers, has spent $524,550 since 2007 on Colorado Democratic campaign donations and funds for liberal front groups like the Colorado Accountable Government Alliance, which focused on electing Democrats to the State House.

Well, what does the nearly $2 million in campaign cash buy them?

Apparently, it buys them bills in the legislature meant to be used as grist for attack ads in their campaign to oust the reform-minded Douglas County School Board.

From an AFT Colorado email that went out yesterday afternoon:

AFT Colorado Update

Legislative Update From Last Week At The Capitol 

HB 13-1313 Open Meetings Legislation. Rep Peniston and Sen. Hodge introduced House Bill 1313 in the Colorado State Legislature. This bill deals with the executive sessions of elected officials and boards. As you know, the current DCSD Board of Education spends nearly half of their time behind closed doors. For this reason, and for the value of transparency in government, AFT Colorado helped craft this bill and is supporting and advocating for its passage.

The bill’s sponsors, Rep. Cherilyn Peniston and Senator Mary Hodge, both got a $1,000 donation from the Colorado Federation of Teachers in 2012.

Governor Hickenlooper got $10,000 from them in 2010.

The AFL-CIO afffiliate loves to spread the cash around. While we doubt it will amount to much in the way of ousting the Douglas County School Board — considering DougCo schools are ranked the top large district in the state and parental satisfaction with the schools is through the roof — it certainly should be disconcerting to teachers in Douglas County.

They have money removed from their paycheck every week for what? To oil the Democratic Party machinery?