Public Employees Unions

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Campaign Finance - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Jobs - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s Pleas for Civility Don’t Apply to Union Leaders

September 19, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Michael Barone, one of America’s premier political analysts, unleashed a corker this week looking over how sold out to unions our president as been. It is something that union watchers such as myself have been saying since day one.

It’s bad enough that Obama has been so bought and paid for by union bosses, but his hypocritical calls for “civility’ while he encourages unions, some of the most uncivil voices in politics, to continue their bellowing their rage and hatred is hypocrisy unmatched in any White House.

Barome says that Obama acts less like a president of the United States and more like a “shop steward in chief” as he panders to unions at every opportunity. He doesn’t just pander, either.
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Obama’s Pleas for Civility Don’t Apply to Union Leaders”

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

Lib Activist Physically Assaults GOP Lawmaker in Wisconsin, Media Silent

September 16, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

A known liberal activist that has for months been stalking several Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, verbally abusing them, has finally crossed the line into a physical attack. So… where is the Old Media to chronicle this assault? Sadly, no where to be seen.

On Sept. 14 left-wing activist Miles Kirstan entered The Inn at 22 S. Carroll Street in Madison, Wisconsin, began to harass some GOP lawmakers patronizing the establishment, and ultimately attacked them, throwing a mug of beer on them.

The Madison Police Department confirmed to the MacIver Institute that the incident occurred and the group found that Republican State Rep. Robin Voss (Burlington) was the main target. Reps. John Nygren (Marinette) and Scott Suder (Abbotsford) were also a victim of the attack.

Kirstan is a well-known face among the extremists that have been railing against the Walker administration over the budget cuts and other legislative efforts.
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Lib Activist Physically Assaults GOP Lawmaker in Wisconsin, Media Silent”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Michigan - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Mich. House Moves to Ban Union Dues Deducted from Teachers’ Paychecks

September 15, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new measure has been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives that would ban school districts from automatically deducting union dues from teachers’ paychecks and handing that money over to unions.

The practice of having state governments deducting dues automatically from state employees is quite common in northern and western states that are in thrall to the unions. It is a major payoff to unions to have governments automatically deduct dues from the paychecks of government employees, too.

It does seem odd that government is handling union dues, of course, but the reason it is done is because if government didn’t automatically deduct the dues and hand the cash over to the unions, those unions would have a harder time getting timely dues payments from members. If employees were responsible for paying their own union dues — as they should be required to do — then unions would find payment a bit less reliable than when government does the job.
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Mich. House Moves to Ban Union Dues Deducted from Teachers’ Paychecks”

9/11 - AFL-CIO - al Qaeda - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Islam - Islamofascism - Jobs - Liberals - Osama bin Ladden - Public Employees Unions - Richard Trumka - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Terrorism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

AFL-CIO Prez: Hey, Remember 9/11? Was a Great Union Moment, Right?

September 10, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In one of the most disgusting examples of the self-absorption of the union mind set, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka decided that his 9/11 memorial would not be much about 9/11, but would instead be just another excuse to say how great unions are and how evil conservatives are. This isn’t just gauche, but insulting, infuriating, and just plain ignorant. Not only that, but it is most certainly disrespectful of the fallen and just plain un-American.

But, then again, that describes unions in just about every instance, doesn’t it?

Disgustingly, the AFL-CIO’s Trumka turned a “memorial” to 9/11 into a union snake-oil sales pitch. Worse he began with an almost dismissive attitude to the memory of the attacks on our homeland.
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AFL-CIO Prez: Hey, Remember 9/11? Was a Great Union Moment, Right?”

California - Children - Education - Larry Sand - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Former Union Boss to Become Charter School Operator

September 10, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Once a rabid anti-reformer, termed out United Teachers of Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy has become a union apostate…maybe.

On September 1st, Los Angeles Times writer Howard Blume wrote what at first glance appeared to be satire. He reported that A.J. Duffy is starting his own charter school. For those of you who live a peaceful life outside the realm of the education wars, Duffy is the crusty and cantankerous, raspy and rabid former president of the United Teachers of Los Angeles – a man who never met a charter school or any education reform that he liked. And when he didn’t like something, he made sure you knew about it.

But it’s a new day and Duffy indeed will be soon become the executive director of Apple Academy Charter Public Schools, a new organization that hopes to open one or more schools by the fall of 2012.

To show how bizarre all this is, let’s take a step back a couple of years. In 2009, when the Los Angeles Unified School District wanted to expand the number of charter schools in the district, Duffy, then UTLA President said,

“All the data says charter schools do not do better than public schools. This is bureaucracy putting in a top-down plan which hasn’t worked before.”

Now he says he has a vision, and while his schools will be unionized, it will not be at the expense of sacrificing his new ideas about how a school should operate.
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Former Union Boss to Become Charter School Operator”

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

Teachers Unions Happy to Say Goodbye to August

September 3, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The Dog Days of summer are making teachers unions sweat as they get caught being, well, teachers unions

August has been a bad month for teachers unions. And looking at things objectively, it would appear that every one of their hot flashes has been well deserved. In no particular order:

The SOS March was a dud. It was supposed to be a teacher-led event, but the unions were really behind it. The small turnout had its share of angry, mostly leftist teachers whining and shouting about this and that. No one paid much attention. The speakers were just what you’d expect. Jonathan Kozol, forty years later, is still railing about poverty causing ignorance. (No, actually ignorance causes poverty.) Then the marchers were treated to former reformer and current union mouthpiece Diane Ravitch who chirped about how wonderful they all were. And then the big gun, Matt Damon, who if nothing else showed what a great actor he is. The guy who played a convincing genius in Good Will Hunting demonstrates that without a good script he’s about as sharp as a marble.

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Teachers Unions Happy to Say Goodbye to August”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Socialism - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Ranks Bottom of States With Worst Government Unions Accountability

August 31, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new study finds that Illinois ranks at the bottom of states with the worst climate of government union accountability in the nation. The Land of Lincoln ranks 47th in the nation of out of control, unaccountable government unions says the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s new “Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index.”

The index ranks every state on “23 individual aspects to determine the degree to which states favor organized labor and which favor taxpayers.”

The Index provides a national narrative on labor policy. Analyzing 1,150 labor laws and regulations throughout the country, it allows state-level policy makers to learn from the successes and mistakes of their neighbors, and therefore adopt labor policies that are in the best interest of their citizens.

CEI ranks the top most taxpayer friendly states as Tennessee, Utah, Idaho, Texas and Florida. The worst states, areas where unions control the debate and constantly push legislators for ever more favorable laws and rules favoring government unions at the expense of taxpayers and good government are Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.

The study looks at such things as the strength of collective bargaining, the lack of or strength of secret ballot protection laws, the adherence to open meetings laws, project labor agreement laws and the like to determine how the states measure up against each other.
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Illinois Ranks Bottom of States With Worst Government Unions Accountability”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - NEA - Public Employees Unions - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Children Better Behaved Than Union Thugs in Wisconsin

August 30, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The MacIver Institute of Wisconsin has been doing stellar work on the situation between the unions and the rest of Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker first entered the Governor’s mansion. The Institute has really shown the thuggery that is the unions again and again, revealing them for what they are.

Well, MacIver has done it again… or rather the unions have done it again.

Governor Walker had planned a visit to the Messmer Preparatory School in Milwaukee, a school that exemplifies what good education is. After all, 85% of the students that graduate from Messmer end up graduating from college.
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Children Better Behaved Than Union Thugs in Wisconsin”

Budget - California - Economy/Finances - Education - Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

A Blueprint for Maintaining the Status Quo

August 30, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Tom Torlakson’s panel comes up with edubabble and little else in an attempt to turn around a troubled California public school system.

Just when we thought we were safe from yet another “master plan for educational improvement,” A Blueprint for State Schools is bestowed on us. This 31 page monstrosity was unleashed by State Superintendent for Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s Transition Advisory Team. While the Teacher Quality Roadmap I wrote about in June had specific ideas about fixing Los Angeles schools, the “blueprint” is supposed to identify and address areas that are “vexing to the state’s K-12 system.”

The LA roadmap includes interviews with teachers and principals and can be summarized:

“Among other things, the report, which included interviews with over 1,500 teachers and principals, recommended changes to the current union contract and to state laws regulating staffing, evaluations, tenure, compensation and work schedules. Some of the prescriptions include using criteria other than seniority if layoffs are necessary and utilizing standardized test scores as part of a teacher’s evaluation and when making staffing decisions. Additionally, it was suggested that teachers be denied permanent status until they have been in the classroom for four years instead of the current two.”

In my June post, I commented that while the roadmap was full of good common sense prescriptions from teachers and principals, they were really nothing new and, in any event, would be blocked by the teachers unions because they are happy with the status quo, ugly warts and all.
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A Blueprint for Maintaining the Status Quo”

1st Amendment - AFL-CIO - Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Conservatives - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Jobs - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Nanny State - Newspapers - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - SEIU - Senate - Socialism - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Astroturf Pretends Like Tea Partiers to Attack GOP

August 21, 2011 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Hill has an interesting, if not a bit slanted, report about the faux grassroots efforts of unions and left-wing advocates to pretend they are somehow just like the Tea Party by attacking the town hall meetings of various GOP congressman across the country this Summer.

The Hill dutifully reports without complaint the union’s claims that they are organizing just like the Tea Partiers and forcing GOP congressmen to face “angry protests at home” this month in a “replication” of the Tea Party backlash that “bit” Democrats in 2009.

“Liberal groups have been planning these protests for months,” trumpets The Hill, “One organizer told The Hill in February that the campaign would ‘build to a crescendo’ in August.”

These protests have been organized by Obama’s supporters in government unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO as well as far left NGOs such as MoveOn.org, Campaign for America’s Future and others.
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Union Astroturf Pretends Like Tea Partiers to Attack GOP”

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

Typical Teachers Union Tactics Kill Parent Trigger in Connecticut

August 16, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Time for being shocked, shocked about teacher union methods and objectives is over.

Last week, writer Rishawn Biddle broke a story about the American Federation of Teachers’ recent successful actions to neuter a Parent Trigger bill in Connecticut. The first Parent Trigger law, officially the Parent Empowerment Act, was passed in California early last year. It allows parents, via a petition, to force change in the governance of a failing school should the petitioners get a majority of parents to sign on.

The educational establishment – school boards, teachers unions and other special interest groups, dubbed the “Government Education Complex” by Bruno Behrend, director of the Center for School Reform at The Heartland Institute, don’t like the law since it allows a group of parents to trump their power.

Most writers and bloggers who have written about the incident have focused on a pdf, originally a PowerPoint, posted on the AFT website, which very honestly and cynically describes the process by which the union did its dirty work. Realizing that this display of raw union power was not in keeping with its persona as a reform-minded partner, always willing to collaborate with parents, communities and other stakeholders, AFT pulled the pdf from its website shortly after the Biddle piece was posted and started to play defense…sort of.
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Typical Teachers Union Tactics Kill Parent Trigger in Connecticut”

Budget - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Failure: Over $14 Mil Spent on Wisc. Recall By Liberal Groups, Unions

August 12, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As a recap on the past recall effort that just occurred in Wisconsin, a final accounting shows that liberal groups spent over $14 million to beat the six Republicans that were up for recall. They failed in four of the six attempts and in the two they won, well, it was a pyrrhic victory to say the least. It all goes to show that money is not always the final arbiter of an election victory.

The MacIver Institute of Wisconsin has created a great graphic to diagram the spending the left indulged to recall these six Wisconsin Republicans. It was mostly union money, of course.

Click Image to embiggen…

Of the totals, MacIver says:
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Failure: Over $14 Mil Spent on Wisc. Recall By Liberal Groups, Unions”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Children - Conservatives - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Elections - GOP - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Scott Walker - SEIU - Senate - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Unions Lose BIG In Wisconsin Recall Efforts

August 10, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oh, the union thugs in Wisconsin will certainly try to act as if winning a mere two of the six recall elections of the Republican State Senators in the Cheese State was a big win… but it wasn’t. In fact, this recall nonsense shows that the union issues were a huge failure. After all, they even shied from using the union issues to push the recall efforts after they got going because they were looking like a losing issue.

In fact, the two Republicans that lost their effort to beat the recall were the two that were a bit odd as it is, so beating them doesn’t seem to be such a great triumph. And even at that the margins of defeat were not great. David Fredosso of the Washington Examiner puts it well:

In the end, the union-backed Democrats picked up only two state Senate seats in Wisconsin last night, at a staggering cost in time, effort, and of course money. One of the seats was solidly Democratic, held by a Republican due to an apparent fluke of nature. The other was held by an alleged adulterer who had moved outside his district to live with his young mistress, and whose wife was supporting his recall.

A Pyrrhic victory, there, for sure.

Unions and left-wing Democrat operative told us that the people of Wisconsin were furious at Governor Scott Walker and his GOP partners. We were told that “the people” would swarm to the recall election polls and throw the rascals out. But aside from the two problem children above, none of the elections were even close.
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Unions Lose BIG In Wisconsin Recall Efforts”

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

Bad Signs at the SOS March

August 6, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” – William Butler Yeats
“You can’t light a fire in an empty bucket” – Larry Sand

The Save Our Schools March, Rally and Pity Party went off as planned in D.C. this past weekend, although on a smaller scale than the organizers had anticipated. They thought they could attract 5-10,000 people, but according to Education Week, only 3,000 showed up. Of those 3,000, it is unknown how many were teachers.

Many of the protesters carried signs which pretty much captured their reason for supporting the event. Essentially, the messages can be broken down into two basic areas. The first were in the political-economical realm:
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Bad Signs at the SOS March”

AFL-CIO - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - House of Representatives - Jobs - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Richard Trumka - SEIU - Senate - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions: On the Outside Looking In At Political Power?

August 5, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Since Obama began his run for the White House he has been Big Labor’s best friend. And they loved him for it, too. As Obama ran and as soon as he got into office the unions had stars in their eyes. They thought that with a bought and paid for president in their hip pocket, every long dreamed of union wish was about to be fulfilled.

You can’t really blame them, of course. Obama did nothing but work to let them believe he’d do everything they wanted once safely in the White House. They gave him millions of dollars and he gave them rosy promises. But they are starting to feel duped.

To be sure Obama has done more for Big Labor than any other president in American history. He’s stocked his entire regulatory edifice with union hacks, he’s issued executive orders to force federal contractors to pay union dues, wages, pensions and to work under union rules even when said companies aren’t unionized, and he’s used his powers to regulate to attack companies that dare to cross swords with Big Labor.
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Unions: On the Outside Looking In At Political Power?”

Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Policy Institute: The Truth is Out

July 31, 2011 by

From the Illinois Policy Institute…

For years, government unions have perpetuated the myth of the grossly underpaid civil servant. In our recent report, “Out of Sync,” we bust that myth wide open and got the word out to the media, the public and grassroots activists.

Out of Sync outlines a fact that many in Springfield don’t want you – the taxpayer – to know:

The average Illinois government employee takes home 23 percent more in compensation than the average private sector employee.

Who pays for these generous salaries and benefits?
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Illinois Policy Institute: The Truth is Out”

California - Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

SOS Fest: Teachers Unions and Radical Left are in Charge

July 29, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Teachers should think twice before marching in lockstep with this revolting crowd.

Americans have always had a warm spot for teachers. We all have memories of those who have taught us, who were there every day for us and felt like part of our family. But over the past 40 years or so, teachers unions have begun to chip away at the public’s perception of teachers. And this changing perception has accelerated during the recent fiscal downturn.

Education policy expert Jay Greene addresses this phenomenon in The Army of Angry Teachers which was posted on Education Matters, his own blog, and elsewhere last week. The crux of his piece is that typically people tend to look at teachers as an extension of their family. But now during stressful times for teachers, the teachers unions have whipped the rank and file into a state of deep anger. Greene writes “But when the public face of the teacher unions is the Army of Angry Teachers, they no longer seem like Mary Poppins and begin to look a lot more like longshoremen beating their opponents with metal pipes.”

Greene has hit on a major point. Not surprisingly, the post was met with negative responses by, well, angry teachers.
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SOS Fest: Teachers Unions and Radical Left are in Charge”

Business - Capitalism - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Writing the Book on Intimidation and Violence

July 24, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

F. Vincent Vernuccio had a great piece in the Washington Times a few days ago revealing the the handbook written by the SEIU that teaches union thuggery to union operatives.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has a 70-some-page manual that came to light in a recent court case.

SEIU is in federal court defending itself against charges of racketeering and extortion filed by one of its unionizing targets, the catering company Sodexo Inc.Sodexo’s court discovery recently revealed an SEIU “Contract Campaign Manual” on “Pressuring the Employer.” Union pressure is nothing new, but what SEIU recommends is not limited to organizing drives and strikes. Rather, the pressure takes the form of a so-called corporate campaign, whereby the union allies itself with outside third parties to raise intimidation to a new level.

Vernuccio explained that the most recent efforts of the SEIU to push businesses to the edge of bankruptcy so that they are vulnerable to being taken over by union operatives even going to the point of secretly getting the businesses to agree to work with the SEIU to prevent other unions from trying to contact its employees.
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Union Writing the Book on Intimidation and Violence”

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

National Teachers Unions Intensify War on Reformers

July 21, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

NEA and AFT ramp up attacks on non-existent teacher bashers, while vilifying those who are trying to reform a failing system

In her address last week at the American Federation of Teachers TEACH conference, AFT President Randi Weingarten came out swinging. In an emotional speech to the faithful, she said that education reform should come from teachers and their communities, rather than from people “who blame teachers for everything.” While the teachers unions have been hammering away at this “blame the teacher” myth for some time now, the rants seem to be intensifying.

Invariably, what is labeled “teacher bashing” is nothing more than anger at the teachers unions for blocking every type of education reform imaginable, as well as the unions doing their level best to block school districts’ attempts to fire bad and even criminal teachers. So to be more specific, these phenomena should be called “teacher union bashing” and “bad teacher bashing.”

Education writer RiShawn Biddle does an excellent job of poking holes in the teacher bashing argument, claiming, among other things, that Weingarten “is just using a rhetorical trick often deployed by teachers unions and other education traditionalists to oppose school reform. They declare that any criticism of the unions and any effort to overhaul teacher quality are forms of ‘teacher bashing.’ And such proclamations end up forcing reformers onto their heels when they should actually take these critics to the woodshed.”
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National Teachers Unions Intensify War on Reformers”

Budget - Children - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Government - Liberals - Michigan - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Michigan Public School Illegally Uses Robocall System Against GOP Governor

July 20, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

News has emerged that a Michigan public school illegally used its automatic phone calling system to call the homes of every student to urge parents to join the recall effort against Republican Governor Rick Snyder last month. To imagine that they can illegally use public school facilities for a partisan, left-wing political effort, this is the arrogance of left-wingers in our mis-educational system writ large.

It is certainly illegal for a school to put it’s telephone alert system for partisan political use, but that is what happened nonetheless. Here is what the message said:

This is a message from the Lawrence Public Schools (inaudible) alert system. This is an informational item and not directly associated with the school. Concerned parents interested in cuts to education . . . we’re here to inform you that there is information about the problem. Also, be advised that there is a petition to recall Governor Snyder. If you want, stop by Chuck Moden’s house right by the school June 7th/8th between 3:30 and 4:00 pm. Thank you. Goodbye.

(To hear a recording of the message, click here.)
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Michigan Public School Illegally Uses Robocall System Against GOP Governor”

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

AB 114: A Blatant Attack on California’s Schools

July 14, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The California Teachers Association and Democrats in the legislature join forces to victimize school districts, children and taxpayers

In Sacramento, on Tuesday night, June 28, school districts, children and taxpayers were essentially mugged by a gang of Democrat legislators at the behest of their bosses in the California Teachers Association. Governor Jerry Brown, also in the pockets of CTA, was a willing accomplice.

AB 114, a one hundred page monstrosity, was rammed through both houses of the state legislature late on the 28th and was not published until the following morning. Governor Brown signed it into law the next day. As the Sacramento Bee reported, there were no committee hearings and no chance for the public to scrutinize the bill, which became public less than an hour before it was approved for passage.

AB 114 does several things, all of which imperil local school districts by imposing a mandate upon them that many will not be able to carry out. Educated Guess writer John Fensterwald says there are three ways that AB 114 steals power away from the local district.
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AB 114: A Blatant Attack on California’s Schools”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Sizing Up Classrooms

July 12, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand (Originally posted at City Journal)

It’s time to expose the “smaller-is-better” myth

Summer is in full swing, and teachers’ unions are going on the offensive. Perhaps hoping to build on the public-relations bonanza that was California’s “State of Emergency,” union activists and their progressive allies plan to rally in Washington, D.C. and around the country later this month as part of the “Save Our Schools March and Call to Action.” The public will hear from writers like Jonathan Kozol and Diane Ravitch about the indignities schools have purportedly been forced to endure in the wake of the economic downturn. One of their key themes will be the “class-size crisis.”

Teachers like smaller classes, and understandably so. The advantages include fewer papers to grade, students to manage, and parents to deal with. The teachers’ unions like smaller classes, too. Smaller classes mean more teachers and more union dues. And parents like smaller classes because they believe that their children benefit from more individual attention. Everyone agrees that smaller classes are better, right?

In a word: no. Much of the rhetoric supporting small classes is demagogic and runs afoul of the research. Let’s begin with the oft-heard union claim that classes are getting larger. Not quite. A U.S. Department of Labor chart, courtesy of teacher-union watchdog Mike Antonucci, tells the tale. Since the mid-1950s, the number of public-education employees — including teachers — has risen steadily and inexorably nationwide. Brief hiring disruptions occur only during recessionary times, which result in a minor diminution in personnel. Immediately following the downturn, however, the hiring resumes with gusto. The result is that since the mid-1950s, the U.S. student population has increased by 60 percent, while the number of public education workers, including teachers, administrators, and other non-certificated staff, has exploded by 300 percent. (For every new member in California, the union pockets more than $600 a year in dues.) Antonucci has reported on this phenomenon for years. When the economy inevitably contracts, the bellyaching and the hand-wringing about laying educators off begin anew.
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Sizing Up Classrooms”

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

Wrestlers of the World, Unite!

July 10, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Only on Planet Teacher Union can obnoxious American wrestlers and a potentially cataclysmic political situation in the Middle East be utilized to advance the teachers unions’ agenda.

My never ending quest to find something good that teachers unions do for children or taxpayers has led to some pretty strange dead ends, but lately we have hit on a couple of items that even the most jaded among us can’t quite digest.

The first story has made a few ripples in the blogosphere, but overall not exactly a big splash. On April 29th, the Creative Coalition and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) issued a press release to announce that they were partnering with the National Education Association. The Creative Coalition is a typical progressive arts activist outfit, which as a registered 501(c)(3) must officially be “nonpolitical.” This is the type of organization that you’d expect NEA to align with. However, that NEA has entered into a formal partnership with WWE is something that left even one as cynical as I, with mouth agape.

NEA has a very progressive social agenda, fighting against real and imagined isms – heterosexism, feminism, etc., while promoting others – socialism, egalitarianism, etc. Of late, NEA’s favorite cause célèbre has been anti-bullying. However, if you have spent more than 3 seconds watching WWE garbage, you know that bullying (“Do you fear me? I like that.”) is just what they promote — with more than a little misogyny (“Trish get on your hands and knees like a dog.”) thrown in…and seasoned with a dash of homophobia for taste (effeminate men mincing and kissing each other in the ring) – all things NEA professes to abhor.
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Wrestlers of the World, Unite!”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - RightPundits.com - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

CA Public Schools See Lower Funding But Higher Test Scores

July 5, 2011 by

– By Warner Todd Huston

It is pretty amusing to see the Sacramento Bee acting all shocked that less funding from the state didn’t hurt education and higher student test scores were realized despite the lower spending on education. But that seems to have been the case.

As the State of California has floundered state services have had to do with less tax money and the schools are no different than other departments. As the Sac Bee says, “conventional wisdom” states that schools need ever higher amounts of money to successfully teach our children. But, shock of shocks, the Sac Bee has found something that defies that purported wisdom…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.

9/11 - al Qaeda - Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Flight 93 - Government - History - Islamofascism - Liberals - News - Patriotism - Public Employees Unions - Society/Culture - Terrorism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Western Civilization - Wisconsin

Wisc. Firefighters Care More About Their Union Than 9/11 Memory

July 3, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

If you needed yet another example of why government employees should never be allowed to join unions, this is it. In Racine, Wisconsin the local fireman’s union got into an imbroglio over a July 4th parade float honoring the fallen first responders of the Sept. 11 attacks, a parade entry that the union supported previously. This time, though, union bosses decided not to support the 9/11 memorial float because one of the firemen on the float opted out of the fireman’s union this year.

That’s right, the fireman’s union decided that their union agenda was more important than supporting a memorial to their brethren that died on Sept. 11, 2001. Their union agenda was even more important than patriotism and an Independence Day parade.

Imagine that. These union thugs despoiled the memory of the Sept. 11 fallen and used them in order to make points for their union ideals and political policies.

What could be more disgusting?
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Wisc. Firefighters Care More About Their Union Than 9/11 Memory”

Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Ohio - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions Display Hatred in Union Derangement Syndrome

June 30, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

My Friend Maggie Thurber has a great piece chronicling the hate that unions in Ohio display for those voters that stand against the absurd riches that government employees have wrung out of the taxpayers in the Buckeye State.

Pointing out that union supporters are “dripping with ‘hate’ and derision toward people who see a problem and are trying to fix it,” Thurber does a great job of identifying the flawed logic in this union member’s argument on why the focus on the “opulent” benefits and pay scales of government workers is wrong on their opinion.

One point that Thurber makes is spot on. While it is true that many people are sick and tire of these union thugs ripping off the taxpayers, the unions are not the only entities at fault here.
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Unions Display Hatred in Union Derangement Syndrome”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Washington D.C.

Progressive Education Circus Goes to Washington

June 28, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The folks who have resisted real education reform will attempt to sell their broken ideas, tax-the-rich schemes and radical socialism in D.C. next month.

Sorry to be the bearer of unpleasant news, but the SOS (Save Our Schools) March on Washington — an attempt to con the public by diverting the debate away from real education reform issues like failing schools, irresponsible spending, retaining bad teachers, etc. – will be setting up their Big Top in Washington D.C. from July 28th to July 31st.

The annoying whiny voice in the SOS promotional video is probably an indication as to what the tone of the event will be. Its endorsers are the usual motley collection of progressive educators, socialist organizations and teachers unions that one would expect – Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Kozol, Students for a Democratic Society, the Freedom Socialist Party and the National Educational Association are just a few of the individuals and organizations lending their name to this circus. I will be reporting more on the event in the weeks to come.
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Progressive Education Circus Goes to Washington”

AFSCME - Budget - Connecticut - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Conn. Unions Have Trouble Reading Hand Writing on Wall

June 27, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Cities, counties and states (not to mention the federal gov’t) all across the country are overspent, out of cash, and deeply in the red. One reality that has been hitting all these government entities has been a series of tough negotiations with government employee unions. Unions are loathe to take cuts, certainly, but the reality is that in many cases it’s either cuts or layoffs. More and more unions are realizing this and taking the cuts to avoid losing jobs. The foolish government employees in Connecticut seem to be insensible to reality, though.

Strangely enough, even the government union bosses in Connecticut understood the pickle they were in. Union bigwigs negotiated cuts with the Democrat controlled state legislature and Democrat Governor Daniel Malloy. They did this with the understanding that none of their rank and file would lose their job.

Unfortunately for the unions, many of the members seem too foolish to “get” it. They voted the concessions down. Now Governor Malloy is saying he has little choice but to get rid of thousands of workers.

Nice move, fellows.
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Conn. Unions Have Trouble Reading Hand Writing on Wall”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Wisc. Teachers Protest Working an 8-Hour Work Day

June 27, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Green Bay TV reported on June 21 that the teachers union in Green Bay, Wisconsin is incensed that the school district is demanding that teachers work an extra half hour a day, making their hours a set 8-hour day, or a 40-hour work week. In turn, this absurd ire displayed by teachers is incensing local Green Bay residents.

“They need to be the professionals that they are supposed to be. They sound like a bunch of idiots and they look like a bunch of idiots, they make the rest of us look bad,” said a listener to the Vicki McKenna Show.

Naturally the teachers union president assumes all you Green Bayers are stupid, that you don’t understand the issues, and says that she won’t listen to her critics, anyway.
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Wisc. Teachers Protest Working an 8-Hour Work Day”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Chicago - Children - Cities - Congress - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Chicago Teachers Losing Their Raises

June 18, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As the Daley years wound down, Chicago’s public schools teachers were handed an automatic 4 percent raise across the board that was supposed to take effect next year. However, that largess from the taxpayers has just been rescinded by a unanimous vote of the Chicago Public Schools board.

Citing the $712 million budget deficit, the CPS announced that the automatic, meritless raise was simply unjustifiable.

In a statement, schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard said, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for teachers and all that they do for our children. But today’s board action was taken in response to the massive financial crisis facing our system. My team is now tasked with developing a balanced budget and presenting it to the Board and the public in August and our promise remains to minimize any impacts on the classroom and our kids.”
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Chicago Teachers Losing Their Raises”