Unionization Push Threatens Alliance College-Ready Public Schools

By Scott Kaufman
01/12/2016
“Join the movement for schools L.A. students deserve.” You’d be forgiven for thinking that meant schools that offered the best outcomes for their students. Instead, it’s the banner the United Teachers of Los Angeles is marching under in its “struggle” with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the “fight against the corporate parasites lined...

TAGS: Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, Charter schools, Los Angeles Unified School District

$MORE

By Larry Sand
01/12/2016
CTA press release reveals the union’s agenda toward education spending…and its utter disregard of reality. Last week California Teachers Association president Eric Heins issued a press release that shows the union’s ignorance – or avoidance – of facts. It begins with, “Educators are encouraged to see the Governor use his proposed state budget and revenues...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, California Teachers Association, Cato Institute, education spending, Eric Heins, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, NAEP, Prop. 30, teachers union

The Mechanics of Pension Reform – Local Actions

By John Moore
01/11/2016
Part 2 of 2… Introduction In Part One, I enumerated reforms needed at the state level. That list was in part plugging up the “cheats” used to run up the statewide pension deficit of about a trillion dollars. Employee unions control the state legislature, the attorney general, all executive offices and all retirement administrators; therefore...

TAGS: "California Rule", California pension reform, John Moore, Pacific Grove pension reform, pension reform

Union In The News – Weekly Highlights

By Sean O’Striker
01/05/2016
High Stakes in Union-Fee Case Before Supreme Court By Mark Walsh, January 5, 2016, Education Week The face of the movement seeking to upend the public-employee labor sector has had a back-and-forth relationship with her own local teachers’ union. Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff among a small group of California teachers whose case goes before the...

Friedrichs vs. the CTA Ruling Could Restore Free Speech Rights of Government Workers

By Edward Ring
01/05/2016
In less than one week the U.S. Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, to determine whether unions can force public employees to fund speech through collective bargaining with which they might disagree. The case could result in a landmark decision impacting the First Amendment rights of millions...

TAGS: CTA, Friedrichs vs. the CTA, Rebecca Friedrichs

Testing Matters

By Larry Sand
01/05/2016
Led by the teachers unions, the push against standardized testing punishes kids. With bipartisan support in Congress and President Obama’s blessing, the son of No Child Left behind, dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), has become the law of the land. While many on the right favor the law because it returns some power...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, CAHSEE, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, No Child Left Behind, Randi Weingarten, teachers union