Cursing the Light

By Larry Sand
07/16/2013
Teachers unions continue to use empty rhetoric to bash promising school privatization efforts. It is a given – and understandable – that teachers unions deplore vouchers or opportunity scholarships, arrangements whereby public monies are used to fund a private school education; it hurts their bottom line. With very few exceptions, private schools are not unionized,...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, Cato Institute, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Jason Bedrick, Jay Greene, Larry Sand, opportunity scholarships, Patrick Wolf, teachers unions, vouchers

The Public Education Jobs Program

By Larry Sand
10/30/2012
As you go to the polls next week, please consider the facts before voting to pour more money into the K–12 black hole. Last week, The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released a comprehensive study which details an employment explosion in America’s public schools. America’s K-12 public education system has experienced tremendous historical growth in...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, Benjamin Scafidi, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Lindsey Burke, NAEP, Prop. 30, Prop. 38

Small Class-Size Balloon Punctured Again

By Larry Sand
10/17/2012
It’s time to “just say no” to the small class-size pushers and eliminate seniority as a staffing mechanism. Small class size means less work for teachers. Parents seem to think that their child will be better educated in a room with fewer classmates. Unions love fewer kids in a class because it equates to a...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, Eric Hanushek, Jay Greene, last in first out, Mike Antonucci, seniority, small class size, teacher shortage

Don’t Buy NEA Snake Oil

By Larry Sand
07/24/2012
The teachers union uses bogus numbers to con the public into believing that education needs more funding. The National Education Association is relentless in its quest to raise taxes. In its latest gambit — “Massive Budget Cuts Threaten America’s Children” — the union claims that “…America’s schools have added 5.4 million students since 2003.” The...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, education spending, Eric Hanushek, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, teachers union

Teachers Unions and Truth: Rarely Does the Twain Meet

By Larry Sand
03/23/2011
Misinformation is at the heart of unionspeak. Public school teachers have been told for years that they are only respected by the general public because Big Union fights for them and gets them that respect. However, the opposite would appear to be true. America still loves its teachers…the good ones, that is. They don’t like...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, Dennis Van Roekel, Michael Lovenheim, Mike Petrilli, National Education Association, teachers unions