The entries for Week #12 of our Proposition 65 Contest were all superb. Layouts were terrific. Judging was a challenge. Contessa Mendoza’s gated community picture took first place based on extraordinary wackiness Only in California would the residents be required to warn the criminals that if they break in, they might contract cancer or risk...
This is the fourth in a series of missives to the president of the American Federation of Teachers. (The first three can be accessed here, here and here.) My Dear Randi, It has been a while! I hope you are well, though I suspect recent events have you a bit off-kilter or even a tad...
Indoctrination in government schools is a big problem; giving parents choices can solve it. Recently in southern California, a public high school student was given an assignment in English class to pick an issue and make an argument for and against it. The 16-year-old decided to do her essay on the Dreamers. But her teacher...
How long will conservative teachers dutifully fund the teacher unions’ leftist political agenda? As I wrote in July, following the Janus decision, teachers unions had two roads to travel. They could become more politically ecumenical as a way to attract teachers who were no longer required to join, or they could continue to do business...
The teachers unions and their allies demand more and more, and still more money for education. In a recent New York Times piece, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten warned us about “The high cost of defunding public education.” Her standard issue whine starts off with the Time Magazine front-page story (which I wrote...
Sacramento — The U.S. Supreme Court is attacking working people by destroying public-sector unions. That’s the gist of the argument that the union movement has made as the court considered Janus v. the American Federation of State, Municipal and County Employees (AFSCME). Actually, their arguments were far more overheated, both before and after the high court ruled in June that...
Proposition 65 Photo Contest Week #4’s Winner of CPC’s Proposition 65 contest is Shanae Chester for a wonderful picture that is both wacky and adorable, complete with a funny caption. Only California would place this kind of warning sign at one of its most popular tourist destinations. This is Shanae’s second win (she also submitted...
Sacramento — In the preamble to California’s Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s 1953 law governing the public’s access to government meetings, the Legislature noted, “The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them.” Likewise, the people “do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the...
The recent Janus decision by the US Supreme Court gives public employees the right to quit union membership – or to never join a union in the first place. This sweeping ruling not only banned unions from requiring non-members to still pay so-called “agency fees,” but it required unions to obtain “affirmative consent” from public...
From Puerto Rico to Los Angeles, teachers unions still try to deny parental choice at every turn. In March, six months after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the island’s lawmakers approved a bill that offered parents school choice options, including vouchers and charter schools. Hardly radical, the voucher program was capped at 3 percent of...
Sacramento The media coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Janus decision, striking down all mandatory union dues-collections as an infringement of the First Amendment, has been met with weeping and gnashing of teeth from union leaders. In their view, the conservative majority’s ruling is an assault on the ability of union members to negotiate...
Sacramento What do the following two things have in common: The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing government workers to opt out of paying union dues and an effort by liberal activists to pass a rent-control initiative in November? On the surface, both issues directly involve the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees....
The choice between unions becoming more ecumenical or more radical has been made. In the run-up to the Janus decision, some thought a victory for the plaintiff would lead to the teachers unions becoming more politically balanced by embracing at least some conservative candidates and causes as a way to ensure the uninterrupted flow of...
Legislation and litigation ramp up in light of the Janus decision. The public employee unions have not been at all contrite since their 41 year run of legalized theft came to an abrupt halt. On June 27th, the Supreme Court overturned 1977’s abysmal Abood v. Detroit Board of Education decision and ruled...