The Janus decision and teacher freedom: One year later

By Larry Sand
07/02/2019
What has happened, what hasn’t happened, and why. On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government workers no longer had to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment, and the ensuing hysteria was a sight to behold. Loopy headlines like “How The Supreme Court’s Janus Decision Could Cripple Public...

TAGS: AB 119, Association of American Educators, California Policy Center, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Freedom Foundation, Janus v. AFSCME, Larry Sand, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, teachers union

Trailer trash

By Larry Sand
07/04/2017
Forced unionism may soon be illegal, but a mandatory union propaganda law is now on the books in California. The public employee unions, especially the teacher union variety, are very jittery over the prospect that the Janus case, if successful in the U.S. Supreme Court next year, could free government workers from paying forced dues...

TAGS: AB 119, Association of American Educators, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Janus v. AFSCME, Joshua Pechthalt, Larry Sand, Steven Greenhut, teachers union

Teacher Union Political Spending: Liberal as Ever

By Larry Sand
10/11/2016
AFT continues to use teachers as ATM machines to fund their pet leftist causes. The latest American Federation of Teachers annual financial disclosure has been released (H/T RiShawn Biddle). This year’s LM-2 is filled with goodies that are sure to warm the cockles of leftist teacher union members, but apolitical educators, centrists and certainly those...

TAGS: agency fee payer, Al Sharpton, American Federation of Teachers, Association of American Educators, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Center for Popular Democracy, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, Mary Kay Henry, Mike Antonucci, National Action Network, Randi Weingarten, seiu, teachers union

No Teachers Union in Clovis

By Larry Sand
06/07/2016
San Joaquin Valley’s Fresno County can boast about more than its raisins. Clovis, a city of about 100,000 located right next to Fresno in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley, has a particular distinction: the city’s schools have never been unionized. Of course, the California Teachers Association dons pretend that Clovis doesn’t even exist because the...

TAGS: Association of American Educators, California Teachers Association, Larry Sand, teachers union

Dear South Side Teacher

By Larry Sand
04/05/2016
An open letter to the idealistic teacher in Chicago who may have defied the teachers union by not striking on April 1st. In a recent newspaper article you said you were “morally and ethically” against the Chicago Teachers Union one-day strike (or “Day of Tantrum,” according to a Chicago Tribune op-ed) last Friday and that...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Antonin Scalia, Association of American Educators, charter school, Chicago Teachers Union, first out, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, last in, LIFO, National Education Association, pension pick-up, Rick Hess, seniority, Supreme Court, teachers union

Bye-bye Abood?

By Larry Sand
01/19/2016
SCOTUS appears to be ready to dump mandatory public employee union dues payments. Last Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Friedrichs v California Teachers Association lawsuit. The case centers around whether or not teachers and other public employees should be forced to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment...

TAGS: Abood, American Federation of Teachers, Antonin Scalia, Association of American Educators, Christian Educators Association International, Friedrichs, George Leef, labor peace, Larry Sand, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, National Education Association, Nina Rees, Randi Weingarten, Right to Work, stare decisis, teachers union

Acquiescent Teachers and Their Undemocratic Unions

By Larry Sand
09/16/2014
Teachers who are not satisfied with their union must make their voices heard.  Are Unions Democratic? The Internal Politics of Labor Unions and Their Implications, a report just released by the Manhattan Institute’s Daniel DiSalvo, examines unions – specifically the public employee variety, with an emphasis on teachers unions. Addressing the democracy issue, he writes:...

TAGS: agency fee payer, Association of American Educators, California Teachers Association, Daniel DiSalvo, Dean Vogel, Larry Sand, Manhattan Institute, National Education Association, Reg Weaver, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

I Know Nothing! Nothing!

By Larry Sand
01/28/2014
By meekly surrendering paycheck deductions on a monthly basis, teachers are complicit in their unions’ policy making and politicking. In a great majority of cases across the country, when teachers get work in a public school, they join the teachers union. Or, more accurately, they join three of them. There’s the “local,” whose responsibility is...

TAGS: agency fee payer, Association of American Educators, California Teachers Association, Christian Educators Association International, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, teachers union

Employee Freedom Week – Know Your Rights

By Edward Ring
06/25/2013
California is a forced unionism state, meaning that once a collective bargaining unit is recognized by an employer, it’s pretty hard for any employee to avoid paying union dues. But even in forced unionism states, employees have rights. “National Employee Freedom Week” was initiated in Nevada last year by the Nevada Policy Research Institute, and...

TAGS: agency fee payer, Association of American Educators, Christian Educators Association International, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

Stand Up To Bullying Day

By Larry Sand
05/08/2012
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...

TAGS: Association of American Educators, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Christian Educators Association International, National Education Association, teachers unions