In a refreshingly candid speech, union leader minimizes bromides about “the children” and relentlessly bangs the class warfare drum. In his March 22nd state-of-the-union talk to the faithful, California Federation of Teachers president Josh Pechthalt made no bones about the ultimate mission of his union. Absent were the usual silly platitudes like “working together with...
Despite bellyaching from the union crowd, the California education code’s last in/first out (LIFO) statute must be tossed. California’s fiscal problems have taken a toll on the teaching profession in California. And the Golden State’s arbitrary seniority system, whereby staffing decisions are made by time spent on the job, has made things much worse. A...
Ms. Weingarten gives her enemies a breather as she jets off to Kiev to “promote democratic values.” American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten has been on a tear lately, working diligently to build up her long and growing enemies list. As reported by The Wall Street Journal’s Allysia Finley, The American Federation of Teachers...
Predominantly minority D.C school kids are not sharing NEA leader’s glee over President Obama’s budget. Last week, President Obama released his administration’s budget for fiscal year 2015 and National Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel was ecstatic. He was especially pleased that Obama plans to move “towards ending the era of austerity.” (Austerity? I must...
California’s Democrats have dreamed for more than a decade of bringing universal preschool to the Golden State. In the latest push, Democratic state senate leader Darrell Steinberg has unveiled Senate Bill 837, the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014, promising free public preschool—what backers now call “transitional kindergarten”—to every four-year-old in the state. The legislation, which...
Latest teacher union stunt to discredit charter schools rings hollow. As I have written before – as recently as last Tuesday – the teachers unions have a schizoid relationship with charter schools. Depending on the tides, they either want to kill charters off or unionize them. Last week – in kill mode – Randi Weingarten’s...
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, in part, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.” Yet, because of laws that favor powerful unions and “labor peace” over the rights of individuals, millions of public school teachers have lost their rights to free speech and free association. We are required,...
At a Los Angeles teachers union election forum, presidential contenders portray charter schools as a disease that needs to be eradicated. As reported by LA School Report’s Vanessa Romo, charter schools were a primary target at the February 20th symposium for presidential candidates of the United Teachers of Los Angeles. Actually, it seemed as if...
Though National School Choice Week ended a couple of weeks ago, reactionary rhetoric and political clashes are just heating up. With National School Choice Week behind us, the battle – and it is a battle – to free our children from a monopoly by zip-code public education system is being fought on fronts all over...
Los Angeles Times op-ed and teachers union defense of educational status quo are packed with malarkey. Now in its third week, the Students Matter trial still has a ways to go. Initially scheduled to last four weeks, the proceedings are set to run longer. On Friday, Prosecutor Marcellus McRae told Judge Rolf Treu that the...
By meekly surrendering paycheck deductions on a monthly basis, teachers are complicit in their unions’ policy making and politicking. In a great majority of cases across the country, when teachers get work in a public school, they join the teachers union. Or, more accurately, they join three of them. There’s the “local,” whose responsibility is...
A recent memo accuses educators of racial discrimination while failing, with a few exceptions, to address the real problems. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a series of guidelines regarding the suspension of students from school. In short, though partially correct, the DOJ report is misguided, misleading, and missing key elements relevant...
CA announces a budget surplus — and legislators can’t wait to blow it. It’s hardly surprising, but California’s we-never-met-a-big-budget-bill-we-didn’t-like Democratic lawmakers and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson have joined hands to sponsor SB 837, new legislation that would provide free public preschool to every four-year-old child in California. The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014, introduced...
Why are vouchers okay for college students, but not for K-12ers? Recently, the National Education Association posted an interview with Wes Moore on its website. Two boys are named Wes Moore. Both grow up in fatherless homes in Baltimore. Both struggle in school, and run into trouble with the police. But one Wes Moore wins...