It should come as no surprise that Democrats in Sacramento are diligently attempting to pry a handful of Republican legislators away from their party in order to attain the 2/3rds vote necessary to place a tax increase onto the ballot in a special election. But as this lobbying effort works its way through the halls...
School district and teacher union leaders need to embrace serious education reform or go the way of the Stegosaurus. My post last week concerned itself with the fact that some or even many teachers might lose their jobs come June due to the dire financial straits in which many school districts find themselves. The Los...
Excessive teacher hiring invariably leads to layoffs; teachers need to understand this trap and protect themselves. We are now in the midst of RIF season. In California and elsewhere, when the economy is unstable, Reduction in Force (RIF) notices must go out to teachers by March 15th. These notices apprise teachers that they may be...
While attention focuses on the battle in Wisconsin between a Republican Governor and public employee unions who overwhelmingly support Democrats, it is in California where the future role of public sector unions in politics is being most severely tested. Because in California, Democrats exercise nearly absolute control over the state’s political agenda, and as a...
No one should be surprised at the actions of teachers unions and their acolytes who laid their cards on the table a long time ago. In an op-ed published in the San Jose Mercury News last Wednesday, I made the point that while the rest of the country had made some positive movement toward badly...
Teacher union legal teams gear up for battles all over the country as union power is threatened. With the recent changing of the political guard in statehouses across the country, teachers unions appear to be in for a rough ride. As one state succeeds in passing reform legislation, another state is encouraged to follow suit...
While anti-bullying programs for students are currently in vogue in our nation’s schools, teachers need to recognize that they too are being victimized. As president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network (CTEN), I talk to people about teachers and education all the time. Politically speaking, most people think that teachers are to the left of...
Before the Reformation, it was common for Europeans to pay Tribute to the Church. People across Europe would have to give something to Rome as a way of submitting to, or showing allegiance to, the church. Tribute in another form came about in the U.S. the 1920s when organized crime carved up cities and claimed...
Union leaders have nothing to offer in matters of education reform. In an absurd editorial, two Los Angeles Unified School District teachers last Friday — both United Teachers Los Angeles chapter chairs — wrote what was supposed to be, in part, a nastygram to LA’s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The op-ed, entitled Pipe Down, Mr. Mayor...
Democrats soon will have to decide whether they are the party of the idle rich – i.e., the party of retired government employees, many of whom spend 30 or more years receiving pensions that are the equivalent of millions of dollars in savings – or the party of the poor, the downtrodden and the working...
With a feeble offense (and virtually no defense), the union leader’s strategies help to keep American public education far from the goal line. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten has done it again. She agreed to compete on a level playing field – defending the teachers unions’ version of education reform – and the...
For many years I’ve participated as a volunteer at annual beautification days at a public high school near my house. Gradually our efforts have resulted in a campus that is graced with a lovely canopy of trees. What I didn’t realize is these volunteer efforts are endangered by union work rules. A few years ago...
Scrooge-like National Education Association shows no sign of remorse. Once upon a time, school choice became a reality in our nation’s capital. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which allowed some poor kids in D.C. to go to private schools with the help of a government stipend, was ushered in by a Republican controlled Congress in...
Shoot out in Compton is the beginning of a gun fight that promises to rival anything the Wild West has ever seen. Back in the 50s, like many kids, I was a huge fan of TV Westerns. I could not let a Gunsmoke, Have Gun-Will Travel or The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp go...