Education

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!”

Budget - Chris Christie - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Liberals - New Jersey - Republicans - Senate - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

VIDEO: God Sides With Chris Christie, Lightening Zaps Dem That Threatened to Punch Guv

July 9, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

New Jersey’s Senate President is a vile, sort of loud-mouthed kind of cretin. Not long ago, in keeping with the Democrat’s New Tone (™) in politics, Stephen Sweeney threatened to punch Governor Christie “in his head.” Well, apparently God has added his thoughts to Sweeney’s preoccupation with violence…

Yep, that was Sweeney almost getting fried by the big guy upstairs for all his lies and nonsense.

Chris Christie, 1, Sweeney, 0.

Now if we can start zapping union members, too! Ha, ha.
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VIDEO: God Sides With Chris Christie, Lightening Zaps Dem That Threatened to Punch Guv”

Anti-Americanism - Constitution - Declaration of Independence - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Founders - History - Independence Day - Liberals - Patriotism - Warner Todd Huston

Harvard Study: Patriotism Doesn’t Appeal to Democrats

July 3, 2011 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The L.A. Times recently reported something that has been conventional wisdom with conservatives for close to 30 years, now. Democrats hate patriotism. It’s been a matter of faith for quite a while but now comes Harvard to help substantiate that little factoid.

For the L.A. Times, Andrew Malcolm sarcastically makes his way through the Harvard study pointing out that it seems that only conservatives, Republicans, or people that lean toward those views find the celebration of Independence Day a joyous occasion. Democrats and leftists, on the other hand, are not too fired up about all that “July Fourth red-white-and-blue stuff.”

Apparently the study finds…

If you’re into the national holiday by age 18, you are 2% more likely to identify as a Republican, 4% more likely to vote that way and 3% more likely to make political donations.

The study found a lot of other things, of course, but the upshot is that if you are a Democrat or you lean left of center then you aren’t too likely to attend patriotic celebrations. It also finds that people that do attend patriotic events will be more likely to vote against left-wingism.
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Harvard Study: Patriotism Doesn’t Appeal to Democrats”

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 - 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”

Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Judges - Law - Liberals - Supreme Court - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Lefties Try to Smear Wisconsin’s Judge Prosser… Again

June 26, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oh, the leftists thought they had him this time (again). So, they began a campaign to smear him (again). Turns out they were wrong (again). And their allegations mysteriously disappeared from the Internet after they found out they were wrong (again).

The left tried once again to smear Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge David Prosser by claiming that he physically attacked another judge (naturally she’s a crazed left-wing judge, too) in a closed-doors meeting late last week. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley actually charged Prosser with “choking her.” Notice she did so only in the press, though. Prosser, of course, is denying it all…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.

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 - California - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Nanny State - Taxes

You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Union Wind Blows

June 15, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Twenty years of schooling in Los Angeles and you’re lucky if you can get any job, let alone one on the dayshift.

Bob Dylan penned the words in the headline (sans the union part) almost a half century ago but having been quoted by many, they live on. The latest example of the lyrics’ relevance can be applied to a new 58 page report commissioned by United Way and several civil rights’ groups, produced by the National Council on Teacher Quality and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation…and the reactions of a teachers union boss.

Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD was published last week, and there were no major surprises in it. Education reformers have been aggressively campaigning for similar changes for many years, and various recommendations from this report are already in force in other states. (While dealing specifically with Los Angeles, its findings could be readily applied to the rest of California. Local school districts do have some power, but education policy decisions are typically made at the state level.)
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You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Union Wind Blows”

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”

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”

Anti-Americanism - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government - Law - Liberals - Maryland - Massachusetts - Nanny State - Warner Todd Huston

Two More Stories on Stupid Liberal Schools

May 15, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

PCism is for idiots. It really is just that simple. It’s bad enough when you find it in the private sector with silliness such as sensitivity training. But at least there, adults can just ignore the stupidity and carry on. When it comes to PC indoctrination of our impressionable kids, well that is another matter and one not so easy to just laugh off.

Unfortunately, the disease of liberal PCism is so pervasive in our schools that we could do a story every single day on the newest outrageous display of liberal lunacy masquerading as education. Today, I’ll relate two of them.

Story One: Old Glory Not so Glorious…
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Two More Stories on Stupid Liberal Schools”

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

CTA Desperation Days in Progress

May 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Larry Sand

Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink and a band of fringe groups have joined the California Teachers Association protest in Sacramento

We are now in the midst of California Teachers Association’s desperation week or as they are calling it “state of emergency.” At the crux of the issue is that Governor Jerry Brown will unveil his revised budget on May 16, and deep cuts to the K-12 education budget could mean widespread teacher layoffs as early as next month. Californians are getting heavy doses of union demagoguery this week, as Brown works to forge a deal with Republicans who oppose any tax hikes.

As I wrote recently, there are many other ways to solve educational budgetary problems without raising taxes. However, none of my proposed solutions are acceptable to CTA because the union insists on maintaining the status quo lest its power be threatened in any way.

As CTA was making final plans for their week long protest, someone crashed their party — none other than Cindy I-am-sorry-but-if-you-believe-the-newest-death-of-OBL-you’re-stupid Sheehan decided to cash in on CTA’s event, figuring she could tag on to a group of sympathetic fellow travelers. (Ms. Sheehan, lest you forget, is a peace activist best known for her for obsessive hatred of George Bush, who set up camp near the former president’s Texas home to protest our involvement in the Iraq War.) Then, the radical Code Pink group and a few other fringe groups joined Ms. Sheehan.
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CTA Desperation Days in Progress”

Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Freedom - Liberals - Liberty - Louisiana - Patriotism - Warner Todd Huston

Good to See University Students Acting Patriotically For A Change… But…

May 13, 2011 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Today a left-wing, anti-American student at Louisiana State University wanted to burn a flag for, he claimed, “due process for students and suspected terrorists alike.” Yeah. Whatever.

As it happens, the students he was claiming to represent didn’t seem to appreciate his idea, though. Several hundred of them turned out to the place where he appeared and drowned out his sniveling statement with loud chants of “USA, USA.”

This nebbish was unable to get his little screed spoken and when water balloons began to pelt him the cops quickly moved him out putting an end to the whole scene. It was epic fail for this dude’s blather.
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Good to See University Students Acting Patriotically For A Change… But…”

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

Teachers Unions Continue Their Assault on School Choice

May 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

CTA and CFT sponsor legislation that imperils charter schools in California.

On April 27, Rasmussen Reports released the results of a poll which addresses American voters’ sentiments about our public schools. Some of the more interesting findings are:

  • 72% say taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth from our schools, while only 11% think we are.
  • By a margin of 41-34 (25% were unsure), those polled said that spending more money on education will not improve student performance.
  • 61% said that public education had become worse over the last ten years.

Given the citizenry’s increasing disaffection with our traditional public schools, charter schools would appear to be a good alternative. Charter schools are public schools which are allowed to operate outside the boundaries of costly multilayered district bureaucracies and piles of restrictive union mandated rules and regulations.
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Teachers Unions Continue Their Assault on School Choice”

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

The Intersection of U Street and Main Street Does Not Exist

May 5, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The teachers unions’ radical agenda alienates them from the American mainstream

As I mentioned in last week’s post, during the week of May 9th, the California Teachers Association and many local unions, like the United Teachers of Los Angeles, will be taking to the streets in an attempt to convince legislators and citizens that cuts to education will not be tolerated by the unions. In other times this would be a winning strategy, but as shown by recent polls, the teachers unions are not the darlings of the public that they used to be.

While unionistas all over the country lament this loss of favor, they only need to look in their collective mirrors to understand why. They have managed to alienate too many Americans who previously had held them in a better light. The unions’ insistence on things like tenure and seniority privileges, which serve to protect only the bad apples, has begun to grate on the public. Additionally, the fact that they are tolerant of, and give outright support to extremist political causes is another reason the public is turning against them.

An example of the unions turn toward extremist politics took place last year in Los Angeles. Santee High School teacher and UTLA union rep Jose Lara took his students to Arizona on a “field trip” to protest Arizona’s new immigration law. In a YouTube video, Lara is seen standing in front of a wall-to-wall mural featuring a who’s who of murderous revolutionaries, including Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, while proudly displaying the motto Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!!! (Fatherland or Death, We Shall Overcome!!!). UTLA, while not a sponsor of the Memorial Day weekend trip, had no comment on Mr. Lara’s attempt to turn his students into an army of radical activists.
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The Intersection of U Street and Main Street Does Not Exist”

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

Wisc. Democrats Use Recall Petition Info to Harass Voters

April 26, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In yet another union-styled outrage, Democrats backed by union thugs in Wisconsin are using the personal information of voters found on recall petitions to harass them because they signed a petition to recall Green Bay Democrat State Senator Dave Hansen.

Over the last few weeks thousands of Wisconsin voters signed a recall petition in Green Bay to recall Hansen and when voters sign such petitions they must give their address and phone numbers so that authorities can verify the voter’s signature in order to approve the petition. Now it seems that the Wisconsin Democrat Party has gotten hold of these petitions and have begun a telephone harassment campaign against the individual voters that signed the petitions.

The Wisconsin GOP has discovered this disgusting campaign and have found that the Democrats are using a fake phone number and a fake caller ID in order to get voters to answer the phone only to be harangued about having signed the recall petition.
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Wisc. Democrats Use Recall Petition Info to Harass Voters”

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

CTA Days of Desperation Coming to Your Town

April 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Fearful of taking a financial hit, California Teachers Association will be taking to the streets and declaring a “state of emergency.” But I have some questions for them when the demagoguery begins.

With California in a world of fiscal trouble and many people sick and tired of the unrealistic perks and benefits gained by collective bargaining, the California Teachers Association figured they had to take action. Their first idea was to go on a rampage the week of May 9.
The original plan included such disruptive strategies as…
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CTA Days of Desperation Coming to Your Town”