Public schools’ dirty laundry

By Larry Sand
11/28/2017
Do public schools really serve the public? On November 16th, the United Teachers of Los Angeles held a “Save Our Schools” rally, which was part of the larger American Education Week, a National Education Association creation. Touting NEA’s 2017 theme, “Public Schools for all,” union President Lily Eskelsen García emphatically stated “Public schools are the...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, Ben DeGrow, Betsy DeVos, Cato Institute, EdChoice, Horace Mann, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Mackinac Center, National Education Association, Robert Enlow, school choice, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, vouchers

Let’s Deep-six Prop. 30

By Larry Sand
04/26/2016
The signatures for an initiative that would extend 2012’s “temporary” tax increase in California are due today. Four years ago Californians voted in Prop. 30, a “temporary” tax, to pay back schools “from the years of devastating cuts.” But as I show here, there was hardly any devastation; in fact, our spending had continued to...

TAGS: Andrew Coulson, Ben DeGrow, California Teachers Association, Cato Institute, EdSource, education spending, Eric Heins, Jason Bedrick, John Fensterwald, Larry Sand, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, pension tsunami, Prop. 30, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

The Big Apple and Little Dougco

By Larry Sand
11/12/2013
Last week, the nation’s biggest city and a county in Colorado went in diametrically opposite education reform directions. On Election Day, there were several outcomes that affected how education will be conducted across the country. Perhaps the most dramatic took place in New York City and Douglas County, CO. In New York, after several years...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Ben DeGrow, Bill de Blasio, Charter schools, Chester Finn, Education Next, Joel Klein, Joy Resmovits, Larry Sand, Marcus Winters, Michael Bloomberg, Randi Weingarten, Rick Hess

Teachers Unions and School Boards Must Disconnect

By Larry Sand
08/20/2013
Teachers unions’ goals are in direct conflict with those of school boards. Two powerful entities in public education have very different agendas. The teachers unions’ goal is to derive every benefit possible and to protect every last one of its dues paying members no matter how incompetent they are. School boards are governing bodies that...

TAGS: Ben DeGrow, collective bargaining, EAG, Larry Sand, Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee, Rod Paige, school board, StudentsFirst, teachers union, Terry Moe

Letting Schools Compete: A Boon to the Economy

By Larry Sand
02/05/2013
The National Education Association continues to throw out stale bromides in an attempt to salvage a failing and very costly education enterprise. National School Choice Week has just ended and what a week it was! It spanned the country with 3,600 events in all 50 states and D.C., with proclamations and endorsements from 29 governors,...

TAGS: Ben DeGrow, Benjamin Scafidi, Indiana State Teachers Association, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, National School Choice Week, Patrick Wolf, school choice, vouchers