Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues.
New York’s teachers unions do their best to do what’s worst for kids. A new study was just released by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO), which compared academic achievement in traditional public schools (TPS), charter school networks (CMOs), and independent charters in New York City. The report found that students in...
By Larry Sand
The way we pay our teachers is outmoded and needs to go the way of the horse-and-buggy. When I first began to substitute teach in Los Angeles in 1985, I learned about “incentive pay.” If a sub was willing to go to “schools in need,” he could earn about 40 percent more than a regular...
By Larry Sand
With another right-to-work case headed to the Supreme Court, union lies and chicanery are in high gear. Among the greatest myths in recent history include the belief that Che Guevara was a freedom fighter, that China in the 20th Century was a “People’s Republic” and “If you like your health care plan, you can keep...
By Larry Sand
Thanks to collective bargaining, traditional public school teachers “get sick” way too often. It’s no secret that many teachers take advantage of the “sick days” that are part of a typical union collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Of course, while sick days are used legitimately by all teachers at some point, many (including yours truly, on...
By Larry Sand
Anti-school choicers are getting desperate. The traditional public education monopolists are using some truly bizarre arguments to ensure that children remain in government-run schools. In July, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten intimated that parents who opt out of government schools are equivalent to southern segregationists. Then later in July, Katherine Stewart penned possibly...
By Larry Sand
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
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
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
Apostate speaks plain and simple truth to the powerful unions. We are in the middle of the fifth annual National Employee Freedom Week, a nation-wide effort to inform employees about their union membership options. In 22 non-right-to-work (NRTW) states, an employee can become a full-fledged member, an agency fee payer (avoids paying for the union’s...
By Larry Sand
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
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
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
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
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
a new form will got here
a new form will got here