School Worker Fired for Displaying Pro-Walker Sign

What Happened?

On March 15th, Mary Taylor, an employee who worked as a custodian at Whitewater High School, was sent home after school employees complained to her supervisor about a pro-Walker sign that she had placed in her car parked in the school parking lot.

Cindy Wiedenhoeft, custodian supervisor at the school, acknowledged that she discussed the removal of the sign with Taylor and ordered her to remove it. Taylor refused to remove the sign because she claimed that it was within her rights to display the sign. Taylor went even further to compare her act with those of many other school employees who display “Recall Walker” signs in their cars. She was told by her employer that  they were getting complaints about the sign and she had to remove it. When Taylor refused, she was fired.

Little did Cindy Weidenhoeft know that Mary Taylor would not only not cower to the schools heavyhanded demands, but that she would take her story to the press. Conservative radio host Mark Belling covered the story on his program and since then, Taylor has been given her job back, but in another district.

Who is Mary Taylor?

• Taylor is 68 years old and works 2 part-time jobs.
• She works seven days a week.
• Taylor is a single mother, raised several children, all grown now.
• She’s a conservative and supports Governor Walker.

What is the Problem?

The issue I have with this story is not just the infringement on Taylor’s freedom of speech, but the heavy-handed way with which the public sector union employees are using muscle and influence to lay down their own brand of law.  I myself have sat in a college classroom where I was subjected to repeat disparaging remarks about Governor Walker from my instructor. I finally spoke up when my college instructor deemed it necessary to pass around his union rule book on the last day of class (which had nothing whatsoever to do with the subject matter) just so that he could get this last chance in of student brainwashing.

More importantly is the question, Where is this story in the local newspapers? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has written several articles about a man getting his house egged for displaying a Recall Walker sign, but doesn’t mention one word about this big story. Wauwatosa Now Newspaper covered a story about a man who was receiving threatening letters for displaying his Recall Walker sign, but not a word is mentioned about Mary Taylor.

My feeling is that Instead of showing concern for Sandra Fluke, Georgetown law student pushing for religious institutions to provide insurance that covers contraception and other procedures in violation of their beliefs, Obama should be calling Mary Taylor.
What she did was truly courageous. Nevertheless, I don’t think Mary Taylor will be invited on MSNBC and The View.
No one I know of is calling Mary Taylor a hero, except me.

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