y project as much power as the Oval Office. It's the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which boasts that it's the nation's biggest lobby. Indeed it is -- it outspent the next five combined. And the biggest political player, outspending the Republican and Democratic National Committees. If Washington is polluted by money, the biggest smokestack comes out the top of the U.S. Chamber. They claim to "represent American business." In fact, more than half their budget came from just 16 companies. They don't say who those companies are, but it's not too hard to figure out, since they spend most of their time fighting any legislation that might help slow climate change. They're radicals: They filed a brief with the EPA urging them not to act on carbon emissions because if the planet warmed humans could "adapt their physiologies" to deal with the change. If someone on a street corner told you that their plan for global warming was changing your anatomy, you'd give them a wide berth -- but if you have a few hundred million in campaign contributions to hand out, it buys you a lot of respectability. The time to strip away that respectability has come, and it starts today in D.C. But it doesn't end here. Across the nation, a campaign to get businesses to declare "The US Chamber Doesn't Speak for Me" has begun to make real progress -- thousands and thousands of smalhift going on, she does need to keep up with the political stuff. If she won't read it here on HuffPost, then she needs to read about it in newspapers, other education blogs, etc. "What is happening out there can happen to you," I told her. The answer I received from her was, "What do you mean?" What do I mean? I explained that someone, anyone, with an agenda and zero smarts can come in to our school one day and close it down, put in a charter school, or do whatever they feel. I explained to her that in an instant, she -- through no fault of her own -- could become an ATR (Absent Teacher Reserve). "Oh, no way, it won't happen. I'm too good of a teacher." I explained that while that's nice, in the long run it means squat. I pointed out to her that she has almost 15 years in the system and is approaching 40 years of age. That her salary is reaching the upper echelons of the scale and that those three factors alone will hinder her if, God forbid, she was to be put into ATR status. "Well, anyway, I know a lot of people. I can go out and get a position with them, at their schools," she explained to me. At that point, I gave up trying to explain the realities of what is out there. Yes, it sure does help to know someone. But if the "someone" you know doesn't have a position, or the money to create a position, what good is it to know that person? It all begins at the school level. Yes, we can kvetch and whine all we want about the United Federation of Teachers, but why should the UFT fight when there are teachers who won't fight back and instead just lay down like lambs? Apathy and ignorance of what is going on with education today will ultimately be our undoing. I understand that a teacher has a zillion things going on at once and it is difficult to add more things to worry about. But without knowledge, without caring, without being proactive, we are just allowing the reformers, the billionaires, the hedge fund managers and, yes, our unions -- including mine, the United Federation of Teachers -- to walk all over us, take us for granted and be able to claim that they don't hear us. The time has come for us to start standing up for our rights -- not just for us a