Unions

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Stand Up To Bullying Day

May 11, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

The NEA says that May 4th should be devoted to anti-bullying. Okay, and to be fair, I suggest that we start with the biggest organized bullies in the country – the teachers unions themselves.

The National Education Association celebrated “Stand Up To Bullying Day” on May 4th. Its website is full of advice about how to deal with what it calls “everyone’s problem.” With a solemnity ordinarily reserved for a Sunday morning sermon, NEA has created a pledge –

I agree to be identified as a caring adult who pledges to help bullied students. I will listen carefully to all students who seek my help and act on their behalf to put an immediate stop to the bullying. I will work with other caring adults to create a safe learning environment for all the students in my school.

Please note, the union talks only about children bullying other children; there is nothing about adults bullying other adults.
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Stand Up To Bullying Day”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Tragic Consequences of Social Justice Education

May 7, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

The president of the National Education Association continues to promote ideas that are anti-American and are turning our kids into progressive, anti-wealth, equality-obsessed robots.

Last week, the drone-like National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel gave a talk at the annual gathering of the Nebraska State Education Association. He unleashed the same tired old class warfare hogwash that teacher union leaders have been yammering about for years. The latest version of this old whine stresses closing corporate tax loopholes. As I wrote last week, the NEA claims the U.S. can recoup $1.5 trillion in taxes if those greedy corporate types would just pay their “fair share.” Van Roekel conveniently omits the fact that NEA took in $400,000,000 in 2010-2011, mostly in dues forcibly taken from its members, and didn’t pay one red cent in taxes.

Van Roekel then reprised another union mantra – claiming that NEA must pursue “social justice.” He said,
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The Tragic Consequences of Social Justice Education”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - FBI - Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Occupy Wall Street - Ohio - Socialism - Terrorism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Bridge Bomber’s Name Appears on Occupy Cleveland Bldg. Lease, Occupiers Mad at FBI Instead

May 6, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In another story that should surprise no one, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reveals that the name of one of the Ohio bridge bombers nabbed by the FBI is so closely involved with Occupy Cleveland that his name appears on the lease of the rented warehouse they use for a headquarters. Instead of being ashamed, though, the Occupiers are mad at the FBI, apparently.

When stories about the late April arrest of five Ohio men who had formed a plot to bomb some key bridges in Ohio first surfaced, the Old Media called them merely “anarchists.”

It wasn’t long, though, before the New Media began to find out that they weren’t just any amorphous “anarchists,” but members of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Cleveland (Occupy Cleveland). No Old Media outlets reported this in the beginning despite how easy it was to find the facts.
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Bridge Bomber’s Name Appears on Occupy Cleveland Bldg. Lease, Occupiers Mad at FBI Instead”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Second American Revolution

May 6, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

If education reformers stick to principle and don’t back down, all other obstacles to victory can be overcome.

Recently, Andrew Rotherham wrote a short piece in The Atlantic in which he describes “The 3 Main Obstacles in the Way of Education Reform.” The first obstacle he mentions is that currently “We buy reform.”

Or at least we try to. Some politicians really think that throwing money at the problem will help and the less principled ones do it because they are trying to pay back certain political allies. The result is that untold billions are taken from taxpayers to support giant bureaucracies on the federal and state levels and to prop up programs that do little or nothing to help the students who desperately need it. Rotherham writes:
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The Second American Revolution”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

NEA Greed Machine is in Overdrive

April 29, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

Tax Freedom Day is April 17th. Freedom from teacher union extortion? To be announced.

The National Education Association has thrown itself full force into the “corporate loophole” demagoguery campaign. According to the NEA, children are being victimized by avaricious corporate types who don’t pay their fair share of taxes. The NEA exhorts the American people to “stand up for the middle class and support closing corporate tax loopholes at the federal and state level, so that additional resources can be invested in public education and other services that build our communities.” In a message oozing with class warfare, we learn that “Corporate tax loopholes are costing our schools and communities resources that would help the next generation achieve the American Dream.” (Cue the violins.)

They then post a list of programs that would thrive if the greedy corporate bastards would just pay their fair share – Title 1, Pre-K education, etc. NEA of course fails to mention that these programs, though popular, are essentially federal boondoggles. They don’t really do what they purport to do. They do make work for unionized adults, however, which if you haven’t been paying attention, is all NEA really cares about. But I digress….

Using Citizens for Tax Justice as their source, NEA claims that closing the seven largest corporate tax loopholes would provide an estimated $1.487 trillion in additional revenues over the next ten years. Coincidentally, CTJ just happens to be the union founded and funded lobbying wing of something called the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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NEA Greed Machine is in Overdrive”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Michigan - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Wealthy Michigan Teacher Upset She Can’t Retire at 47

April 20, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s just unfair, isn’t it? I mean, if an $80,000-per-year, union protected, unfireable, teacher can’t retire at the extremely young age of 47 while the rest of us have to work into our 70s, well, what kind of world are we living in? That’s how teachers in Michigan feel, anyway.

Just ask the haughty Terri List, a Michigan public school teacher from Saginaw Township. She’s entirely disgusted with all those ignorant taxpayers — who vote in evil Republicans — that won’t let her retire at 70% of her salary at a sprightly 47-years-of-age. She’s so upset that she’s telling anyone that will listen that being a teacher isn’t worth the effort.

On the government union site run by the Michigan Education Association, Mz List is seen carping that waiting to retire at 60 is a travesty for the teaching profession. In what rotten world do people have to wait until they are 60 to retire, anyway!?

… only the rest of us, Mz List, only the rest of us. You know the “us” I’m speaking of Mz List? Yeah, the “us” that are with our taxes forced to pay your exorbitant salary, your overly generous benefits, and your retirement in your middle age.
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Wealthy Michigan Teacher Upset She Can’t Retire at 47″

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Perverts Prevail in Public Schools

April 19, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

With teacher union enabling, child abuse goes on unabated.

A male business owner joking about life for homosexuals in prison, forced a junior accountant to bend over a desk, lined up behind him to simulate a sex act, then quipped, “I’ll show you what’s gay.”

An insurance company middle manager who had been warned about touching secretaries brushed his lower body against a new employee, coming so close that she told company investigators she could feel his genitals through his pants.

A corporate vice-president sent text messages to and called one of his female underlings nearly 50 times in a four-week period and, over the winter holidays, parked himself near her home.
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Perverts Prevail in Public Schools”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Good Teachers: Beware The Ides of March

March 31, 2012 by 2 Comments

-By Larry Sand

Julius Caesar came to a bad end on March 15th, the same date many good teachers were warned that they may be unemployed in June.

“Nearly 20,000 Teacher Pink Slips Statewide Show Drastic Need for More Education Funding” screamed the headline on the California Teachers Association website.

First, let’s straighten out the union spin. Typically when a person receives a “pink slip,” it means that they are fired. What some teachers actually received is a Reduction in Force (RIF) notice, which according to state law, must be sent to teachers by March 15th if there is the slightest chance that they will be laid off in June. School districts really don’t know in March what their budget will be for the next school year so they plan for the worst case scenario. It’s unheard of for all teachers who get the notices to actually be laid off, but some will, and they must be notified if there is any chance they will lose their jobs.

As a young teacher in New York City in 1975, I lost my 6th grade teaching because the city was in the midst of a fiscal swoon. A few thousand of us were laid off because we were the newest hires, not because we were the worst teachers. The union contract did not make any provision for getting rid of the poorest performers, just the newly employed. Fast forward 37 years and we are still doing the same stupid thing.
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Good Teachers: Beware The Ides of March”

AFL-CIO - Anti-Americanism - Capitalism - Communism - Crony Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Frank Hyland - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Richard Trumka - Taxes - Teamsters - Unions

Good News for Union Members

March 29, 2012 by

-By Frank Hyland

While this message applies to virtually all labor union members, it is especially applicable to the younger members, those whose futures – and whose families’ futures — are being stolen by the older members of the unions, especially the leadership.

Thinking back to when you have voted in union-led, union-conducted elections, it didn’t take long for you to figure out that what was being called an “election” was, in fact, a sham. The results already had been decided by the union’s leaders long before the “voting” even began. What you’ve been going through is called “Majority Sign-Up” or “Card Check.” At least under the present White House, there won’t be any change in the way that your union elections are conducted. Your local leadership will continue to sit in front of you and watch as you fill out your ballot. Union leaders like Richard Trumka will continue to visit the White House, travel in first-class style, and receive their handsome salaries ($283,340 in 2010) plus expenses, of course.

You can be thankful, though, that not all elections are like those conducted by your union. I’m speaking of the upcoming general election on November 6th. You’ll be treated as a grownup with a mind of your own, not a tool for the union leadership to maintain their hold on you and your dues. As I hope you’ve done in the past, you’ll again walk into a private area/booth and mark your ballot in secrecy, not in front of watchful union leaders. You won’t even need to glance at the piece of paper that union leaders, in a blatant insult to their members, give to members as instructions on candidates and ballot issues for which to vote. Union leaders aren’t even allowed to remain in the polling place, much less sit at the table and watch how their members vote like they do during Card Check.
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Good News for Union Members”

Alan Caruba - Budget - Children - Education - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions

A Failing Grade for America’s Educational System

March 19, 2012 by

-By Alan Caruba

Back in 2001 I wrote a four-part series on “The Subversion of Education in America” and more than a decade later not much has improved. The causes are easily identified. One is federal control and the other is the National Education Association (NEA) which, despite its name, is a union.

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey became a nationally known figure when he took on the teacher’s union for the way contracts with generous pension and health benefits were bankrupting the State. Other civil service contracts also came under review for the same reason.

A recent headline in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye. “No-Child Law Faces Wave of Opt-Outs” reported that “Twenty-six more states asked to be excused from key requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, an exemption that would curb the education law’s impact considerably.” If the Obama administration grants waivers to all the new applicants, three quarters of the statesContinue reading “

A Failing Grade for America’s Educational System”

Budget - California - Children - Education - Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions

Seattle Teachers Union Seeks to Ban Teach For America

March 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

-By Larry Sand

Teachers unions, known for fighting to keep pedophiles in the classroom, try to get rid of good teachers in Seattle.

Last week, I wrote about the particularly egregious case of a teacher in Rochester, NY who sent sexually charged emails to her principal and was subsequently jailed for ignoring a restraining order. Upon her release, she returned to the classroom, and in short order was accused of fondling her middle school students. But due to her union’s pressure tactics, the school board cannot get rid of this tenured teacher.

Across the country in Seattle, we now have a situation where it would appear that the local teachers union may have success in getting six teachers removed from the district.

Pedophiles? Of course not. They are talented Teach For America teachers who have received good reviews from their principals. In what could be a new low for teachers unions – and that’s really saying something – it would appear that through heavy pressure from the Seattle Education Association, the Seattle School Board may terminate the contracts of the six teachers for absolutely no good reason.
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Seattle Teachers Union Seeks to Ban Teach For America”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions

School Choice: Time to Move Forward

March 9, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

As evidence mounts that the government/union education monopoly is failing our children, 2012 should see ramped up efforts to advance school choice.

Last week, Education Week published “What Research Says About School Choice,” in which nine scholars analyze the results of various studies concerning “school choice” – the quaint notion that parents should be able to choose where to send their kids to school. The report boasts no ecstatic claims, nothing about lions and lambs, no Hallelujah moments – just a sober look at the 20 year-old movement to end mandatory zip code school assignments. Some of the findings:

Among voucher programs, random-assignment studies generally find modest improvements in reading or math scores, or both. Achievement gains are typically small in each year, but cumulative over time. Graduation rates have been studied less often, but the available evidence indicates a substantial positive impact.

Among voucher programs, these studies consistently find that vouchers are associated with improved test scores in the affected public schools. The size of the effect in these studies varies from modest to large. No study has found a negative impact.

A third area of study has been the fiscal impact of school choice. Even under conservative assumptions about such questions as state and local budget sensitivity to enrollment changes, the net impact of school choice on public finances is usually positive and has never been found to be negative.

Also last week, the California Charter School Association released its second annual “Portrait of the Movement: How Charters are Transforming California Education.” Not a sales pitch or compilation of cherry-picked data data, the CCSA report is an honest look at California’s 900 plus charter schools which educate about 400,000 students. A few of its many findings:
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School Choice: Time to Move Forward”

Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Adults’ Rights Come Before Children’s Health and Welfare in Public Schools

March 8, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

Parents send their children to school assuming that kids are its number one priority. But as recent events have shown, public schools are Ground Zero for a culture that puts children last and doesn’t hold adults accountable.

In Waiting For Superman, Michelle Rhee stated that it took her a while, but she finally realized that public education is really about the adults, not the kids. No truer words have ever been spoken. In too many cases, a small group of inept and corrupt adults – district administrators, school boards and teachers unions – is in charge of what has become an increasingly incompetent public education system. Recently, several scandalous events point to deep-seated problems.

First and foremost, we have the Mark Berndt case in Los Angeles. This man sexually abused children for years at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. For many reasons — including careless dismissal of children’s claims, missing teacher files and operating in a culture of non-accountability — Berndt got away with doing unspeakable things to his students for over 20 years. The system is so perverse that the school district couldn’t get rid of Berndt without going through a lengthy appeals process costing over $300,000. So, when his crimes were exposed, Berndt gamed the system by accepting a $40,000 bribe and retired – but only after racking up another year of credit toward his pension.
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Adults’ Rights Come Before Children’s Health and Welfare in Public Schools”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions

CTA in Bed with the Occupy Crowd? LOL!

February 27, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

The California Teachers Association is seeking cover in the Occupy Wall Street movement. The OWS crowd doesn’t understand that CTA and other public employee unions are a major part of the problem.

Last week, part of my post concerned itself with the March 5th “Occupy the Capitol” protest being promoted by the California Teachers Association. I wrote,

“Not only is CTA inviting the OWS rabble, they are calling for teachers to attend, even though it is a school day, thus costing taxpayers all over the state untold thousands in costs for subs and robbing children of a productive school day.”

Little did I know, March 5th was just the tip of the iceberg. The CTA website is now touting a “Week of Action” covering the first seven days of March. Many activities are planned and will be led by various “Occupy” groups that have sprung up like weeds. The result is a grand mishmash of radical organizations coming together to vent their spleen over various and sundry issues, and all links to their activities are available through the CTA website.
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CTA in Bed with the Occupy Crowd? LOL!”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Brazen Hypocrisy of the Teachers Unions

February 26, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

When teachers unions wear their duplicity like a bright red bandana, it shows the whole world what they really are about.

Last week, New Jersey Education Association Executive Director Vincent Giordano, who makes over $500,000 a year in salary and assorted perks, shoved his foot in his mouth big time. Appearing on “New Jersey Capitol Report,” he and the host were discussing Governor Chris Christie’s plan to install a voucher system in New Jersey. Such a plan would enable students in the state’s worst performing schools to escape them with a voucher that they could use to attend a private school.

Host: The issue of fairness, I mean this is the argument that a lot of voucher supporters make. People who are well off have options. Somebody who is not well off and whose child is in a failing school, why shouldn’t those parents have the same options to get the kid out of the failing school and into one that works with the help of the state?
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The Brazen Hypocrisy of the Teachers Unions”

AFL-CIO - Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Liberals - Republicans - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Occupy Wall Street Comes to CPAC, Unions in Command

February 10, 2012 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston


The police had the Occupiers well in hand. Notice they had their ever-present tents, too!

A sizable group of Occupy Wall Street protesters assembled Friday late morning to protest CPAC. Naturally this group was buoyed by big labor because, as we all know, the OWSers aren’t really any sort of grassroots anything but are a wholly manufactured, left-wing, anti-American concern funded and organized by hard core left-wingers.

I decided not to bother engaging with them as I’ve done in the past because I’ve learned that dialog is not what they are interested in. They have their rote and often infantile talking points, slogans, and chants and that is usually all they have to offer.
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Occupy Wall Street Comes to CPAC, Unions in Command”

Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Voter ID - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Wisc. Voter’s Name Fraudulently Signed Four Times to Same Recall Petition

February 9, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A self identified Wisconsin watchdog group called Citizens for Responsible Government of Racine reports that a Racine man found his name signed four separate times to the petition to recall Republican State Senator Van Wanggaard, but the voter, Jeff Demet, said had never signed the recall petitions at all. As watchdog blogger Ken Brown says, “this is what vote fraud looks like.”

Blogger Ken Brown found that Jeff wasn’t the only Demet family member that appeared on official records without having put their hand to the petitions. Brown found that several Demet family member’s names appeared on the petitions, some of them several times, some even under different and false addresses.

It seems evident that these fraudulent signatures were added by Jeff’s brother, Mark, who had joined the recall effort and was passing around petitions himself.
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Wisc. Voter’s Name Fraudulently Signed Four Times to Same Recall Petition”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA Sponsored Legislation Could Cripple Charter School Growth

February 8, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

The California Teachers Association can’t realistically unionize all charter schools, so it promotes laws that limit their numbers.

In Golden Missed Opportunity, recently published in City Journal, I examined the options that families in California have if they want to remove their children from failing public schools. The pickings in the Golden State are rather slim, and those options we do have — charter schools, homeschooling and the Parent Trigger — are constantly imperiled by a governor and state legislators who typically do the bidding of the California Teachers Association, the largest state affiliate of the National Education Association.

Charter schools are public schools which aren’t bound by the bloated union contracts that stifle so many traditional public schools. California has over 900 charter schools that currently educate about 400,000 students. To the union’s consternation, only about 15 percent of these schools are unionized. Of course, the union would like to see a 100 percent rate, but accomplishing that would take too much effort and money. Additionally, the flexibility that non-unionization offers is one of the attractions of charter schools for many teachers.

So instead of unionizing, CTA tries to eviscerate current charter laws or get caps on the allowable number of charters. At this time, there are three pieces of CTA sponsored legislation working their way around Sacramento. In fact, just last week the state assembly voted 45-28 to approve one of them, AB 1172. The bill, now in the Senate Rules Committee, was authored by State Assemblyman and former teacher and union activist Tony Mendoza. If AB 1172 becomes law, it would allow a school board to block the creation of a new charter school if it would have a “negative fiscal impact” on the school district. However, “negative fiscal impact” is never really defined, and California charter law already has clearly defined reasons why new petitions can be denied.
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CTA Sponsored Legislation Could Cripple Charter School Growth”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Taxes - Teachers Unions

Jerry Brown and CTA: Testphobic Twins

February 1, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

Children in the Golden State will get a better education when teacher quality becomes a priority

In perhaps the most in-depth study on the subject to date, three Ivy League economists studied how much the quality of individual teachers matters to their students over the long term. The paper, by Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia, tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years, and using a value added approach, found that teachers who help students raise their standardized test scores have a lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage-pregnancy rates, greater college matriculation and higher adult earnings. (The authors of the study define “value added” as the average test-score gain for a teacher’s students “…adjusted for differences across classrooms in student characteristics such as prior scores.”)

The only caveat from the authors is that using test scores in teachers’ evaluations could lead to “teaching to the test or cheating.” Nothing new here. Some people, when involved in any kind of competition, will try to gain unfair advantage or cheat outright. Typically, it’s a small part of the population and those who do should lose their jobs and face criminal charges.

The lesson is clear: test scores can give us a great deal of information about who the really good teachers are. But California Governor Jerry Brown, unfazed by the blockbuster study, actually called for less testing in his recent State of the State address.
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Jerry Brown and CTA: Testphobic Twins”

Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Jobs - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - School Choice - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Exposing a 40-Year Education Crime: Why California Needs School Choice

January 28, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

Busting LAUSD and every other school district in the state for negligence should help kids, but it’s anyone’s guess as to when. In the meantime, giving families more educational options would be a great help, but don’t hold your breath, California.

With National School Choice Week underway, we see many positive things happening across the country. In states like New Jersey and Louisiana, governors are taking the lead in proposing ways to break the devastating monopoly that government run schools – their educrat leaders, corrupt and/or inept school boards and the powerful teachers unions — have held for far too long.

As an example of Big Education gone bad, I write in City Journal about a crime that has been perpetrated on the children of California for 40 years and the lawsuit that addresses it:
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Exposing a 40-Year Education Crime: Why California Needs School Choice”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Chicago - Children - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Jobs - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Radio - Republicans - Rights - School Choice - Senate - Talk Radio - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Vouchers - Warner Todd Huston

Restoring American Exceptionalism – Chicago Townhall

January 24, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I just got back from a wonderful evening taking school choice at the Restoring American Exceptionalism, Chicago Townhall. In attendance were radio talk show host Michael Medved, Fox News contributor Juan Williams, and Dr. Paul Worfel, Director of Education of Trinity International University. The discussion was moderated by John Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute.

The event was sponsored by National School Choice Week, an effort by Americans for Prosperity, and is one of many events being held across the country to encourage parents, legislators, and activists to work toward allowing parents a choice in their children’s education. Co-sponsors were Townhall.com, Salem Radio Networks, and Chicago’s WIND Radio, AM 560

Arriving at the sprawling campus of Trinity International University of Deerfield, Illinois, the biting cold outside was quickly forgotten by the warm reception all received by the event staff. The program started promptly with an introduction by local radio host Big John Howell of AM 560, WIND radio who turned the program over to John Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute.

The night’s debate was nicely balanced from right, center and left with a panel featuring the conservative side of the debate on education represented by talk show host Michael Medved, the center represented by Fox News contributor Juan Williams, and the more traditional educrat’s position taken by Dr. Worfel.

I won’t repeat the whole discussion, but here are some of the more interesting (and some might say provocative) highlights.
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Restoring American Exceptionalism – Chicago Townhall”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Ethics - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Indiana - Jobs - Liberals - Mitch Daniels - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Right To Work - Senate - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Indiana Democrats Fleebagging Again, Abandoning Their Jobs

January 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Once again Indiana Democrats are playing the fleebagger game. Because they don’t have enough votes in the Indiana Statehouse, Hoosier Democrats are abandoning their rightful duties and fleeing the Capitol over Indiana’s right-to-work bill currently under consideration in Indianapolis.

Indiana Senate Bill 269 and House Bill 1001 would make it illegal to require workers in Indiana to join a union as a condition of being allowed to have a job. Allowing workers a choice seems like an inherently American idea, doesn’t it?

After all, how could anyone tell you that you must belong to a union or you’re not allowed to have your job? That sort of forced association seems so contrary to the American character. But forcing people to join unions just so that they can have a job is precisely what Indiana Democrats are fighting to protect.
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Indiana Democrats Fleebagging Again, Abandoning Their Jobs”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

More Pension Truths and Why You Should be Very Angry

January 16, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

How much is that sweet retired teacher who lives down the street draining from your bank account? As the public employee pension mess worsens in California, little Rhode Island shows a way out.

In last week’s post, I focused on “air time,” a little known scheme in California and 20 other states that allows teachers and other public employees to pad their pensions at taxpayers’ expense. Also, not very well known is just how many of Joe and Jill Taxpayer’s tax dollars are going into the pockets of retired teachers.

In California, teachers contribute 8 percent of their pay to their retirement system. Where do the rest of the contributions come from? The current rates include 8.25 percent from the teacher’s employer and 2 percent from the state. But wait a minute. Who is the teacher’s employer? It’s the school district. In Los Angeles, for example, most school district money comes from the state, some from the federal government and the rest is local revenue. Hence, the employer’s contribution is all really the taxpayer’s burden, as the state, city and feds generate no money on their own. So it would be much more honest to say that 10.25 percent comes from the taxpayer.

Let’s look at the taxpayer’s responsibility another way. Sandy, a teacher I know, worked for 24 years in CA and retired at age 61. The amount of money she contributed into the system at retirement (including interest accrued along the way) was about $150,000. Sandy started collecting a pension of about $40,000 year (plus a yearly 2 percent COLA increase) for life. Whatever interest this money accrues over the next few years, Sandy’s contribution will have evaporated in about four years. So, at age 65 she will start living off other people’s money – whatever the “employer” (i.e. taxpayers) kicked in, whatever the “government” (i.e. taxpayers) kicked in and whatever is left, the taxpayers will have to fork over.
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More Pension Truths and Why You Should be Very Angry”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Government - Health - House of Representatives - Liberals - Obamacare - President - Public Employees Unions - Senate - Socialism - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Excuses Over 500,000 Union Members From Obamacare

January 12, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Remember back in the days of the debate over Obamacare when unions were the biggest voices screaming in support of the legislation? Many labor union bosses said that nationalized healthcare was exactly what they wanted. Further they said it was what was good for the country. Yet now we learn that Obama has given waivers to some 550,000 union members so that they don;t have to suffer under Obamacare.

Paul Connor reports that a classic Friday evening document dump from the White House shows that unions employing up to 543,812 members have received waivers fro the Obama administration.

Fridays are often the one day of the week when government agencies satisfy transparency rules and release documents that show what they’ve been up to. They release them on Friday in the early evening because they understand that reporters are already headed home for the weekend and TV news departments have already programed their evening newscasts. These agencies also understand that news agencies don’t often cover heavy news on weekends. Further, by the time Monday rolls around the document will be “old news” and many of them will simply escape attention.
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Obama Excuses Over 500,000 Union Members From Obamacare”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

State Sponsored Thievery Continues in Plain Sight

January 7, 2012 by

-By Larry Sand

Teachers and other public employees use “air time” to pick your pocket. The California State Teachers Retirement System tries calming words. David Crane tells the truth and loses yet another job.

Saying that the state teachers’ retirement system is underfunded is the understatement of this or any year and now, CalSTRS is giving us specifics. On December 27th, it said,

“Recent media reports have suggested that to solve the unfunded liability the state will have to increase CalSTRS funding by $3.8 billion a year for 30 years for a total of more than $114 billion. Although this is an accurate statement based on current projections, achieving adequate funding can occur several ways that would be phased in over time. The CalSTRS $56 billion funding shortfall can be managed, but it will require gradual and predictable increases in contributions.”

In fact, saying that the shortfall has to be “managed” is like saying that World War II had to be managed. No, the reality is that there has to be major destruction and rebuilding, no matter how unpopular this will be with the beneficiaries of the theft, their unions and their kick-the-can-down-the-road buddies in Sacramento who are occasionally known as legislators. Tinkering around the edges and “managing” the problem will do little.
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State Sponsored Thievery Continues in Plain Sight”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Visitors from Outer Space and Their Strange Ideas About Education Reform

December 30, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

There are those among us who think that teachers unions, collective bargaining and peer assistance review are the way to a better education for kids. They look like earthlings, but in fact are extraterrestrials.

As the year draws to a close, newspapers, magazines and blogs are filled with best of and worst of lists that deal with everything imaginable. The Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force got on the bandwagon early and posted Best and Worst in American Education, 2011 in November. All solid stuff. Can a reformer not be happy about the Parent Trigger being raked over the coals, yet surviving, or that many of Michelle Rhee’s reforms are still in place despite leaving her post as D.C. Schools Chancellor after a major push from the American Federation of Teachers? On the worst list, the Task Force includes the Atlanta teacher cheating scandal and the union-orchestrated overturn of Ohio’s recent anti-collective bargaining law.

Then lo and behold, we received a dispatch from Planet Ravitch on December 23rd. (Most people are not aware that shortly after astronomers ruled that Pluto was not a planet in 2006, a new planet would be identified. And it is inhabited!) The people who live on this celestial body (named after Diane Ravitch, a former reformer who turned into a champion of the failing status quo) are afflicted with a dyslexic-like condition: they have the entire education reform picture exactly backwards. The way to true reform is to hold their ideas up to a mirror with the resulting image revealing the best way to proceed.
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Visitors from Outer Space and Their Strange Ideas About Education Reform”

Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

The ‘Let’s Brainwash American Children Club’ Has a New Member

December 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Venerable Scholastic has joined progressive educators and teachers unions in an effort to indoctrinate and radicalize American school children.

Scholastic, a student magazine that has been in business for over 90 years, has caught the progressive fever. (H/T Mary Grabar.) This malady affects common sense and good judgment and leads the afflicted to report news from a biased, progressive viewpoint.

In its December issue, Scholastic, which purports to “believe that all sides of the issues of our times should be fairly discussed — with deep respect for facts and logical thinking,” gets all gooey-eyed about the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon, mentioning that OWS concerns itself with “protesters,” “voicing concerns,” “Americans wanting more opportunity to share in company’s prosperity,” and “workers that they feel that they can never get ahead.” To be sure, some of these types are present at OWS events.

But, Scholastic omits a few inconvenient details, like the fact that the OWS camps have been a magnet for Communists, anarchists, street hustlers, and common criminals and have been breeding grounds for murder, rape, vandalism, robbery and anti-Jewish sentiment. The filth left by many of these criminals — I mean protesters — has taxed municipal sanitation systems at great cost to taxpayers. As of December 9th, there were 417 incidents in all. You would think that Scholastic could have managed to mention that all is not sweetness and light in OWSland.
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The ‘Let’s Brainwash American Children Club’ Has a New Member”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Tenure for Teachers: Enough is Enough

December 18, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Every year untold thousands of school kids are harmed by teachers who shouldn’t be allowed in a classroom. Parents must be given an opportunity to send their children elsewhere.

A teacher arrives at work high on drugs…daily.

A teacher regularly flies into rages, terrifying kids and coworkers.

A teacher talks in explicit terms about sex to the students.

A teacher makes constant sexual advances to other teachers.

A teacher doesn’t teach her students anything.

These are a few of the teachers that new Perth Amboy schools superintendent Janine Caffrey has to deal with on a daily basis. She is quick to point out that most teachers are committed and talented, but there are a few….

The evil here is tenure or permanence, which in New Jersey bestows a position for life on teachers after just three years on the job. (It’s even worse in other states – in California, for example, a teacher can get into the untouchables club after only two years.) Tenure for teachers would be nothing more than a bad joke if it didn’t destroy the education experience for tens of thousands of children who are subjected to incompetent/cruel/perverted people on a daily basis.
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Tenure for Teachers: Enough is Enough”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Ethics - Government - Liberals - Nanny State - Public Employees Unions - RightPundits.com - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Unions Acting Like Unions Harassing Teacher Supporting Gov. Walker

December 15, 2011 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Kristi Lacroix, a Wisconsin teacher, appeared in a political ad produced by education reform supporters of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Now, her union is retaliating against her so harshly that she is considering quitting her job in public education because of the harassment.

As Kyle Walker says in the video, this is typical Alinsky tactics with a “fire Kristi” movement drummed up by union thugs to force the poor woman to quit her job. People that used to be her friends, used to be her coworkers are attempting to destroy her life just because of her political position….

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.