Teachers Unions

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 - 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”

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”

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”

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.

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”

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”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Ethics - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Scott Walker - Socialism - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

No Respect: Unionistas Protest Gov. Walker at a Special Olympics Event

June 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

No respect. No respect at all. That used to be a funny line of a comedian. Now it just brings to mind the ignorance and outrageous behavior of union thugs in Wisconsin. This week these creeps had the audacity to disrupt a kid’s event to protest Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s budget plan.

It isn’t just any kid’s event, either. It is a Special Olympics event! That’s right, these union thugs can’t even let a Special Olympics event pass without trying to use these special needs kids as political tools for their left-wing political purpose.

That takes some serious self-absorption, doesn’t it?

Union members should be ashamed of themselves in general, of course, but these thugs in Wisconsin deserve special recognition for their hateful behavior. After all, they are protesting in order to be able to steal more money from the people at a time when government is already over spent and in the red.
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No Respect: Unionistas Protest Gov. Walker at a Special Olympics Event”

Anti-Americanism - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?

June 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Hookers plying their trade while government turns a blind eye.

Consequences for sexual perverts? No, the state doesn’t seem to care.

Whistle blower fired for exposing massive corruption.

Rampant nepotism in government jobs.

Private bureaucratic empire using public funds.

The above could probably pass as blurbs for a sequel to the movie Chinatown. But while Chinatown was a fictitious movie sprung from the fertile imagination of Robert Towne, the above statements apply to an agency in the executive branch of California state government called the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).

This entity whose mission is to “ensure integrity and high quality in the preparation, conduct and professional growth of the educators who serve California’s public schools” is in fact a corrupt, callous and self-serving club that cares nothing at all about your kids.

What is turning into a major scandal first came to light with little fanfare from the press in early April when California State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report that blew the lid off what she referred to as “one of the ‘worst state run’ agencies in CA.’”

Here are the “highlights from the auditor’s report:
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Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Ethics - Gay Marriage - Gays - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Nanny State - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA, Transgender Clownfish and Our Children

June 1, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The very creepy sexualization of young children, a part of the teachers unions’ progressive agenda, goes on unabated.

In the past few years, teachers unions in the United States have gotten into the perverse business of sexualizing children. I first wrote about this phenomenon several years ago. In 2004, the National Education Association gave its prestigious Human Rights Award to Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the man who eventually became President Obama’s school safety czar. GLSEN is the group that presided over the infamous “Fistgate” conference held at Tufts University in Massachusetts in March 2000, where state employees gave explicit instructions about “fisting” and other forms of gay sexual activity to children as young as 12. The conference was secretly recorded and can be heard here. (Warning: The contents are extraordinarily vile.)

Then this past March, I dug up a story about an NEA “trainer of trainers” who at a U.N. conference claimed that oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms should to be “taught in education” to children as young as 11.
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CTA, Transgender Clownfish and Our Children”

Budget - Chicago - Children - Dan Proft - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

‘Atlas Shrugged’ Offers Timely Message for Teaching Profession

May 28, 2011 by

-By Dan Proft

Almost as alarming as the rate at which children drop out of high school is the rate at which young teachers drop out of the profession. According to the National Education Association (NEA), nearly half of all teachers leave the profession within their first five years.

The union says low wages and poor working conditions cause this scandalous turnover rate. But that cannot be universally true for the thousands who enter the teaching profession because they truly want to instill a love of learning in the hearts and minds of a generation, only to abandon the job in disgust a few years later.

Although some young people may find they are simply not cut out for teaching as part of the routine trial-and-error that occurs in any industry, it seems unlikely this could explain a 50 percent attrition rate in a profession that—the NEA’s special pleading notwithstanding—provides above-average wages, excellent benefits, and secure employment. No, something else is at work here.
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‘Atlas Shrugged’ Offers Timely Message for Teaching Profession”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Children - Chris Christie - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Government - Judges - Labor Law - Liberals - New Jersey - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Teachers Unions - The Law - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

N.J. Courts Not Interested in Democracy

May 26, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Most Americans are under the mistaken assumption that we as voters can elect someone to make changes in our government. Whether the government of our city, county, state or that in Washington DC we voters have this romantic idea that we can affect change by electing people to office that will make those changes. The New Jersey Supreme Court, however, has disabused us all of those absurd notions.

Governor Chris Christie was elected to office for one reason, to solve New Jersey’s budget mess. He’s not Mr. Nice guy. He’s not the prettiest face in New Jersey politics. He wasn’t even the state’s most beloved public figure. He ran on fixing the budget and the people hired him to do just that.

But now, even though he was able to get certain budget changes through both houses of his state legislature, even though he has kept his shoulder to the grindstone doing the very job that the people hired him to do, even as he was on the verge of succeeding, the courts have stepped in and torpedoed the effort.
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N.J. Courts Not Interested in Democracy”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Tea Party - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Tea Party and the Teachers Unions

May 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Teachers unions wield great power in determining school board races, but with state legislation and Tea Party activism, their power is being diminished.

As I write this, a school board election held in Los Angeles on May 17th is too close to call. Even with the backing of Mayor Villaraigosa, Luis Sanchez is still lagging union-supported frontrunner Bennett Kayser by a few hundred votes.

Whoever prevails, there is a much bigger story – less than 8% of eligible voters voted in this election. And even worse than that, 8% is nothing out of the ordinary. The size of the district doesn’t seem to matter; people just don’t seem to be interested in voting in school board elections.

To be sure, part of the low voter problem is that these elections are held in the spring when there is nothing else on the ballot. The groups that have to gain the most by a small turnout are the special interests that are the most organized. Terry Moe, in his excellent new book Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools, leaves no doubt that the teachers unions are by far the most dominant of these groups. The unions, even if they don’t outspend their opponents, have a great advantage because of their organizational mechanism and a large group of ready voters (teachers and other school workers) who reliably turn out to vote for the union-endorsed candidates.
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The Tea Party and the Teachers Unions”

Americans For Prosperity - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Pension Debate Heats Up – Tell Your Lawmaker to Fix Illinois’ Pensions NOW!‏

May 20, 2011 by

Lawmakers continue to debate pension reforms for current state employees and a decision will be made soon – this year’s legislative session is scheduled to end on May 31st.

This may be our last chance to have our voices heard. Click here NOW to tell your lawmaker it’s time to enact substantive reforms of the state employee pension system that directly affect current state employees.

Illinois’ fiscal problems can no longer be ignored. Illinois is spending beyond its means and has ignored countless unpaid bills! Moreover, the fact that we have no real plan for dealing with these fiscal problems have made our state one of the least attractive places for doing business.

The website 24/7 Wall St. took a look at the pension systems of every state in America and created a top 10 list of states where pensions are running out of money. Sadly, Illinois is second on that list with a $126 billion pension liability.

Take action now to return our great state to fiscal sanity. Click here to tell your lawmaker to fix Illinois’ pensions now.

For more information on pension reform go to: http://fixillinoispensionsnow.com/.

Thank you for your continued support and activism.

Sincerely,

Joe Calomino
State Director
Americans for Prosperity-Illinois

Budget - Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois Policy Institute - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Ill. Policy Institute: One Week’s Lost Pay for Pensions‏

May 19, 2011 by

I returned from maternity leave just in time to take part in the epic debate over public pension reform. Get the teachers’ pension costs will top General State Aid education spending this year unless we act now.

To date the working model for pension reform has been House Bill 149, introduced by House GOP Leader Tom Cross. The language in that legislation is being modified and likely will be placed on Senate Bill 512, a shell bill assigned for hearing in tomorrow’s House Personnel and Pensions Committee.

Given Illinois’s worst-in-the-nation unfunded liability and “blue state” politics, what unfolds over the coming days will be a bellwether for the rest of the country. Has your legislator heard from you? (Click here to find your state legislator)
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Ill. Policy Institute: One Week’s Lost Pay for Pensions‏”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Teachers Unions Keep Fiddling While Public Education Burns

May 18, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

There are too many tenured incompetents and criminals who are teaching our children. The unions’ “reforms” will do little, if anything, to get these undesirables out of our nation’s classrooms.

As we all know, Navy SEALs recently killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Unfortunately, it seems that it was easier to flesh out and kill American Public Enemy #1 in a hostile foreign country than to get rid of an incompetent or criminal teacher in the U.S. Too bad for OBL that he wasn’t a member of the National Education Association. He’d still be a working terrorist going through what unionistas laughably refer to “due process.” Actually, as teacher and blogger Darren Miller has pointed out, what was once “due” has become “undue process.”

James Smith, Executive Director of School Security for Paterson, NJ, and Michigan’s Education Action Group have prepared a flow chart, which shows that it takes two to five years to get rid of a criminal or poorly performing tenured teacher in New Jersey. This is not peculiar to the Garden State. Most states have to go through a similar circuitous and arcane maze get rid of teachers who should not be allowed near children, let alone responsible for them.
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Teachers Unions Keep Fiddling While Public Education Burns”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Liberals - Nevada - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Nevada Teachers Cast Out An Eeeevil Conservative Blogger

May 17, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

My friend Mike Chamberlain was a baaad boy last week at the Nevada State Education Association’s annual convention. It seems he was tossed out of the convention on his ear for his blasphemies. It’s no wonder they tossed out this ne’er-do-well, too. He had the temerity to… sit quietly in a corner and take notes on his laptop. How disruptive, eh?

Saturday I was kicked out of the Nevada State Education Association, the state teachers union, convention for, well, for being a conservative at the NSEA convention. Not only did they kick me out of their meeting but, later, one of the directors called me and the others who attended as guests of one of the delegates “enemies” of the organization.

Heck, Mike didn’t even crash the joint. He was properly invited and allowed int the place by a NSEA member, too. I’d say he has a lot to learn about being an obstreperous, party crasher! Being all peaceful and unassuming. The NERVE of him!
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Nevada Teachers Cast Out An Eeeevil Conservative Blogger”