Education Reform

The Teacher-Shortage Myth

The Teacher-Shortage Myth

There is no dearth of teachers; in fact, we may have too many. A nationwide shortage of teachers threatens quality education, according to the education establishment and its advocates in the media. But as with the population bomb, Y2K, and the devils of Loudon, the reality of the supposed crisis is quite different from its representation. A look...

By Larry Sand

Our unaccountable government-run schools

Our unaccountable government-run schools

Taxpayers are on the hook for the actions of irresponsible school districts, teachers who can’t find work…and very possibly, Tampons.   The teachers unions and others in the education establishment love to point fingers at charter and private schools, claiming they’re “unaccountable.” But in reality, there is no entity in America that is less accountable...

By Larry Sand

‘Cherry picking’? Union-run schools dump struggling kids on charters

‘Cherry picking’? Union-run schools dump struggling kids on charters

Sacramento — Teachers’ union leaders hoping to discount the runaway academic success of charter schools have claimed charters lure the best-performing kids, leaving traditional, union-run public schools to handle poor-performing and struggling students. In its statement launching the anti-charter “Kids Not Profits” campaign, for instance, the California Teachers’ Association claimed that charters “cherry-pick the students...

By Steven Greenhut

Charlottesville: Political payday for the American Federation of Teachers

Charlottesville: Political payday for the American Federation of Teachers

The teachers union sees the Nazi rally in VA as an opportunity to further its radical agenda. The American Federation of Teachers is using the Nazi rally in Charlottesville on August 13th as an excuse to launch a massive propaganda campaign against Donald Trump, the right, the Republican Party and everyone else who does not...

By Larry Sand

Google’s fail and teacher jail

Google’s fail and teacher jail

Firing one employee is big news, while not firing hundreds is ignored. Without going through another weedy analysis of James Damore’s firing from Google – Holman Jenkins, George Leef and Nick Gillespie have done a fine job of that – let’s just say the Silicon Valley engineer was canned for stating what most scientists and...

By Larry Sand

Propaganda posters in California public school classrooms: union dogma or educational opportunity?

Propaganda posters in California public school classrooms: union dogma or educational opportunity?

Why is the California teachers union Association distributing political propaganda posters to teachers and other educators for display “in your school, classroom, and beyond?” The California Teachers Association doesn’t offer teachers a guide for the use of these posters in classroom instruction. Nor does it recommend the posters as catalysts for students to think about the nature...

By Kevin Dayton

Teachers union spreads Soviet-era art and ideas in public school classrooms

Teachers union spreads Soviet-era art and ideas in public school classrooms

There’s a rare note of dissent in the May-June issue of Educator, the usually doctrinaire magazine of the California Teachers Association. In a letter to the editor, Fremont Teacher Jim Brady questions the purpose behind official union posters appearing in public school classrooms across the state. As part of its 2017 campaign to “actualize the...

By Kevin Dayton

All teachers’ summits in California are political summits

All teachers’ summits in California are political summits

If you’re looking for evidence that Joe Biden is gearing up for a presidential bid, consider the line-up at the July 28 California Teachers Summit. Billed as their third annual, organizers said the event was broadcast live to an audience of some 10,000 participants in 35 locations throughout the state. Delivering the keynote address was Dr. Jill...

By Kevin Dayton

They don’t have to care

They don’t have to care

Despite what union leaders say, competition makes everything better. A 1995 interview with the late Apple founder Steve Jobs has just resurfaced and is available on YouTube. While the interview, conducted by Computerworld’s Daniel Morrow, went on for 75 minutes, the 3:42 Jobs spent talking about education is memorable. The Silicon Valley visionary knew as...

By Larry Sand

In policing and teaching, union rules protect workers at expense of public

In policing and teaching, union rules protect workers at expense of public

Sacramento America’s public school systems are notorious for their rubber rooms. That’s where teachers deemed unfit to work in a classroom pass the time as their disciplinary actions or terminations move through the convoluted system. This can take years, and while it does, the teachers collect their full paychecks as they twiddle their thumbs. It’s...

By Steven Greenhut

NEAACP

NEAACP

On charter school policy, the National Education Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are still in lockstep. At its yearly convention in 2016, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People voted for a resolution that called for a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools in the U.S....

By Larry Sand

Pot calls kettle racist

Pot calls kettle racist

Union leader sinks to a new low by hyping a worthless report and insulting millions of parents. When some people become frightened, they’ll say and do some amazingly asinine things. Utilizing that as a guide, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is apparently scared spitless. With Supreme Court decisions on the horizon that could...

By Larry Sand

In West Contra Costa County, bureaucrats splurge on taxpayer money

In West Contra Costa County, bureaucrats splurge on taxpayer money

Despite living in the affluent Bay Area, residents of western Contra Costa County have been plagued by a rash of government fiscal crises. The region’s healthcare district filed for bankruptcy twice and is now no longer providing services despite collecting $5.5 million in annual parcel taxes. West County’s largest city, Richmond, carries a junk bond...

By Marc Joffe

Citizens battle union entitlements

Citizens battle union entitlements

Through the courts and legislation, Americans are telling the unions where to stick their privilege. Via weak-kneed and corrupt elected officials, unions have been taking advantage of American citizens left and right for years now. But in ever greater numbers, people are standing up to the bullies and fighting back. “Release time” is a practice...

By Larry Sand