L.A. teachers in open rebellion – this time against their own union leaders

Modest Strike Settlement Nonetheless Puts LAUSD in Even Worse Financial Shape

One of the grievances expressed by the union during their recent strike against Los Angeles Unified School District was that, according to them, charter schools are draining funds from public schools. This assertion, repeated uncritically by major news reports on the strike, does not stand up to reason. Public schools in California receive government funding based on...

By Edward Ring

Officials meddle in nursing market and exacerbate growing shortage

Sacramento — The California Board of Registered Nursing, the state agency that regulates nursing licenses and degrees, appears to be imposing caps on the number of nursing students that some private universities can enroll. Such caps go beyond the agency’s apparent statutory authority, but make little sense given California’s growing nursing shortage. Federal data suggests...

By Steven Greenhut

The state of the teachers union

American Federation of Teachers demands justice in Saudi Arabia and compassion for the vulnerable in Syria, but in the U.S., it’s a very different story. As a way to show that they are “PEOPLE WHO REALLY CARE,” Randi Weingarten and her cronies at the American Federation of Teachers have been making forays into foreign policy....

By Larry Sand

Membership in California’s government unions plummeted in 2018, federal report shows

“Walk out on the union, not the kids”: A California Policy Center social media advertisement delivered during the Los Angeles teachers strike. Memo to anyone still wondering about the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 decision in Janus v AFSCME: Wonder no more. Despite a surging economy, union membership in California dropped by 86,000...

By Editorial Staff

Week 25 Entries

There were several excellent entries for week 25. It appears that delivering meals is a risky business in California – there were actually two entries on that subject. For absurdity and humor, however, it’s hard to beat Week 25’s winning entry from Gary Narberes. It appears that his Wal-Mart has lined its aisles with Proposition...

By Renee Olivett

California’s Nursing Schools Need to Up Enrollment by 60 percent to Avoid Shortage

Los Angeles recently endured a teachers strike, lasting seven days and affecting over 30,000 employees of Los Angeles Unified School District. In the time leading up to the LAUSD teachers strike, 7,000 Los Angeles County nurses narrowly avoided a strike, an event that did not make headlines. As reported by ABC’s local Los Angeles affiliate, the...

By Edward Ring

Union schemes, scams and some pushback

In light of the Janus decision, union rule-rigging and ensuing lawsuits continue. As the Janus case (which ultimately would give public employees a choice whether or not to pay money to a union as a condition of employment) was headed to the Supreme Court, many unions saw the writing on the wall and cooked...

By Larry Sand

Week 24 Entries

What kind of world are we living in where we are warned that a superhero like Batman causes cancer? That was the question posed by Week 24’s winning entry provided by Contessa Mendoza (the_Barefoot_Contessa14). Her entry, a Batman timer, also had the highest social impact score. View this post on Instagram Holy toxic...

By Renee Olivett

More evidence school employees left their unions in late 2018

“Union members now have a choice”: CPC email, one of 13.9 million communications with California government employees. Union membership in yet another California school district is down dramatically, providing new evidence of a broader statewide decline in government unions following last summer’s Supreme Court decision in Janus, the landmark labor case. In 2018, Orange Unified...

By Editorial Staff

Marching for a Better Education

Members of the Inland Empire Parent Union march on MLK Day in Murietta, CA. There was a new twist in Riverside County’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. This year’s parade through the streets of Murietta included members of the Inland Empire Parent Union (IEPU). IEPU President Christina Laster is fighting to get parents more...

By Koppany Jordan

The Destruction of Venice Beach Epitomizes California’s Idiocracy

Venice Beach used to be one of California’s great places. A Bohemian gem, nestled against the sand between big city Los Angeles and the vast Pacific Ocean, one encountered locals mingling with surfers, artists, street performers and tourists. People from suburbs further inland migrated to Venice’s beaches on sunny weekends year-round. Rents used to be...

By Edward Ring

“The UTLA Follies” is excoriated by reviewers

The horribly written, produced and directed teacher union play closed after six painful days. Like a much-ballyhooed but awful Broadway show, the Los Angeles teachers’ strike had a six-day run and no one was happy with it. Except maybe the producers. In fact, United Teachers of Los Angeles leader Alex Caputo-Pearl called the new contract...

By Larry Sand

Week 23 Entries

Week 23’s entries were every bit as difficult to judge as the prior weeks. Once again the judges resorted to the social impact tie breaker. Congratulations go to Contessa Mendoza (the_Barefoot_Contessa14) for her clothing store entry and her humorous quip that soon even window shopping may be a hazardous activity in the State of California....

By Renee Olivett

L.A. teachers in open rebellion – this time against their own union leaders

Union chief Caputo-Pearl: “This agreement is horrible,” a teacher wrote on UTL:A’s Facebook page. “It was not worth striking 7 minutes let alone 7 days!!! Our union has let us down once again.” (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) LOS ANGELES — L.A. teachers on Tuesday voted on a deal their union calls “historic.” But by then, the...

By Mark Bucher