The Republican governor of Indiana would have you believe that teachers are the “privileged elite.” Gov. Daniels believes that teachers and other public-sector employees enjoy “feather-bedded payrolls, very expensive salaries and benefits.”

Gov. Daniels and his GOP accomplices in the state legislature could stand to learn a thing or two about teachers and other public-sector employees in Indiana. For instance, Indiana teachers are anything but overpaid. When compared to private-sector workers with similar education and experience, Indiana teachers (along with other state and local government employees) are already undercompensated by 7.5%.

Current legislation that Indiana House Democrats have left the state to stymie would effectively divert taxpayer money from public schools and redirect it to private schools with a voucher scheme. Hoosier parents with kids in public schools would be subsidizing the education of other people’s kids in private schools at the expense of their own children’s education.

Additionally, the “Hoosier 37” are holding up a bill that could turn over control of struggling schools from locally elected school boards to for-profit companies. Indiana Democrats understand that Hoosier parents and teachers know what’s best for their kids, not corporate CEOs in New York.

But the Indiana battle for Hoosier kids’ futures is only one front in the GOP war on teachers.

We’ve all heard that teachers’ rights are some of those the “Wisconsin 14” are fighting for by refusing the Senate GOP the quorum they need pass Republican Governor Scott Walker’s cynical political ploy masquerading as a budget.

In Ohio, a bill dramatically curbing the rights of teachers to collectively bargain for pensions, benefits, and an array of other contract items has just passed the state Senate (after Ohio Republicans replaced some GOP committee members at the last minute who intended to actually stand up for workers’rights by spiking the bill).

In Tennessee, teachers statewide are rallying this weekend to protest bills pushed by Republican legislators that would abolish the rights of teachers’ unions to negotiate. (Fun fact: Tennessee teachers are the 9^th worst paid in the country, with NAEP math and reading scores at 42 and 33 out of 50, respectively.)

In Alabama, a law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature in December has upset the Alabama Education Association so much that the AEA has filed a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the bill from taking effect. The new law would block teachers and school employees from having the state automatically deduct AEA membership dues from their paychecks. The AEA argues that no legitimate government interest is served by the prohibition, and that the organization was singled out by Republican lawmakers because of the organization's tendency to support Democrats.

As legislative sessions continue in states across thecountry, more and more Republicans are protecting the tax breaks and rewards sought by their campaign donors and political cronies at the expense of teachers and other public-sector workers. Democrats in Indiana,Wisconsin, and across the country strive every day to fight back by standing up for middle-class values, workers’ rights, and our children’s futures.