Protecting image and turf in the face of evil is unconscionable. As if the Jerry Sandusky fourteen year long child abuse tragedy hasn’t been painful enough, former FBI director Louis Freeh released a report last week that condemned Penn State’s legendary football coach Joe Paterno as well as other school leaders for conducting a massive...
The nation’s biggest union finds itself in a big hole and keeps digging. In his excellent book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and Americas Public Schools, published a little more than a year ago, Terry Moe posited that the teachers unions would meet their end via two routes – Democrats joining Republicans, thus making education reform...
The Supreme Court reached the right decision in the Knox case, but we still to need to let all American workers choose whether or not they want to belong to a union. While last week’s Supreme Court’s Arizona immigration and Obamacare decisions have caused great controversy in some circles, its earlier judgment in the Knox...
I have a great deal of sympathy for Michelle Apperson, the Sacramento “Teacher of the Year” who was laid off. Assuming she deserved the award, she should not have been laid off. Sixth-grade teacher Michelle Apperson passed down a simple message to her students. “My favorite teachers growing up were the ones who challenged me...
After losing the Battle of Wisconsin, union members flee in droves and frantic union apologists resort to melodrama. Since losing the recall election in Wisconsin two weeks ago, it seems that there has been more than the usual lying, distortion and hyperbole coming from union bosses and their fellow travelers. Perhaps the most egregious example...
Governor Walker’s victory on June 5th was crucial, but the war is far from over. Just a week ago, Scott Walker survived a recall, beating back the rapacious efforts of the National Education Association and its state affiliate, the Wisconsin Education Association (WEAC) to recall the Wisconsin governor who had the moxie to work with...
Regarding education reform, Romney needs to pound on the facts, leaving his detractors to pound on the table. Recently Mitt Romney laid out his education vision in a speech at the Latino Coalition’s annual economic summit in Washington D.C. The Republican candidate for president didn’t mince words. He said that we are in the midst...
Recently dubbed “the worst union in America,” the California Teachers Association does its best to live down to its new moniker. Troy Senik’s “The Worst Union in America,” is a deadly accurate piece which appears in the Spring 2012 edition of City Journal. Not surprisingly, the author was referring to the California Teachers Association, the...
The May 2012 issue of “California Educator,” published by the California Teachers Association – that’s “teachers union” in plain English – has a two page political ad on pages 20 and 21 that urges teachers to fight a state initiative that will be on California’s November ballot. The text of this ad, which can be...
Latest temblor to hit the Golden State is a lawsuit that could result in a major tectonic shift in education. In September of 1975, due to New York City’s dire fiscal situation, I was laid off from my teaching position at P.S. 125 in Harlem. I lost my job not because I was a bad...
The teachers union not only plays the poverty card, but by battling reforms, ensures that the impoverished will remain that way. “No Education Reform Without Tackling Poverty, Experts Say,” is the title of an article on the National Education Association website. Experts? A trip into the weeds leads to something called the Center on Poverty,...
The NEA says that May 4th should be devoted to anti-bullying. Okay, and to be fair, I suggest that we start with the biggest organized bullies in the country – the teachers unions themselves. The National Education Association celebrated “Stand Up To Bullying Day” on May 4th. Its website is full of advice about how...
If education reformers stick to principle and don’t back down, all other obstacles to victory can be overcome. Recently, Andrew Rotherham wrote a short piece in The Atlantic in which he describes “The 3 Main Obstacles in the Way of Education Reform”. The first obstacle he mentions is that currently “We buy reform.” Or at...
The president of the National Education Association continues to promote ideas that are anti-American and are turning our kids into progressive, anti-wealth, equality-obsessed robots. Last week, the drone-like National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel gave a talk at the annual gathering of the Nebraska State Education Association. He unleashed the same tired old class...